When the hiring process began in December to find Shepard’s new football coach, John Rone was considered a long shot.
In fact, it was widely considered that an assistant on the Astros’ staff was the clear favorite to land the job.
Rone, 41, had no varsity head coaching experience, having spent the past nine seasons at Eisenhower as a varsity assistant and sophomore coach and two years before that at T.F. North.
Rone knew he had to turn heads during the interview process.
“I had to show my passion for leading young men through the most awesome game ever,” Rone said. “And I believe that was prevalent during the interview.”
It was.
And just like that, Rone was named Shepard’s coach on Jan. 9. He replaces Dominic Passolano, who resigned after leading the Astros to an 8-2 record last season.
“I had no idea who the sophomore coach at Eisenhower was when we started the interview process,” Shepard athletic director Curry Gallagher said. “We had seven outstanding candidates. It was a difficult decision. But John was head and shoulders above the rest. He impressed us that much.”
There’s much to like about Rone, a married father of a 7-year-old son, and not the least of which is the path he took in becoming a teacher and coach.
It required perseverance, passion and discipline — values necessary to succeed on and off the field.
At different points in his life, the Austin Peay graduate was a property manager, a realtor and a manager of a national rental car company.
But then the coaching bug bit him, and it came from a very unlikely place.
“I was at the funeral of my high school coach Alvin Scott,” Rone said of the longtime Simeon football coach. “There was alumni there from the 1970s all the way up to the 2000s paying their respects. I knew what he meant for my development.
“But to see all of those former players and students come out, some who didn’t have the positive experience at the time that I did in high school, coach obviously made quite an impact. It hit me that I needed to get into coaching.”
That was in 2005. Rone applied for his substitute teaching certificate and spent two years at T.F. North as a varsity assistant. He made his way to Eisenhower in 2009, where he was a teacher’s assistant and member of coach Travis Moore’s staff.
In 2015, he earned his master’s degree and was hired at Eisenhower as a special education teacher.
Those vast experiences in the corporate world, along with his teaching and coaching skills, vaulted Rone past the competition.
“When you hire a head football coaching position, you hire the best in regards to leadership,” Gallagher said. “Not just now, but long term. His experience outside of education certainly played a part. John was most ready to lead a program.”
Shepard’s program has an abundance of quality coaches, but with a perceived outsider such as Rone getting the job, would some of them leave?
“About 80 percent of the staff is coming back, which I’m happy about,” Rone said. “It’s a great staff. I’m still waiting on a few other staff members, so that number could increase. Everyone has made me feel welcome.”
That includes the players. Rone had an impromptu meeting the second day on the job. The Astros return a ton of talent next season, led by quarterback Marquel Porter and receiver Chris Harrison.
“It was a pretty good start,” Rone said. “We talked about what can be improved the most and what needs to be done to get them better. I’m excited to get going.”
Shepard fans should be equally excited.
Twitter @disabato
