Justin Merideth reclaimed his title as the head football coach at Edmond Memorial High School on Feb. 6, leading the EMHS football team next season. Before he took on the new head coach role, Merideth had been coaching for 21 years, taking on sports such as football, soccer and tennis before stepping down from the head football coaching position in 2017. While Merideth has coaching experience, he also knows how it feels to be a football player and what it takes to be successful.
After stepping down, he took the role of the linebacker coach in 2021 to work with one of his previous players, Logan Thomas, who took over the role of head coach. Thomas had Merideth as his defensive coordinator at EMHS in 2006. When Thomas came to Memorial, Merideth aided Thomas as his assistant coach whenever he found difficulty coaching the football team.
On Dec. 12, Thomas announced on Twitter that he would not be returning to Memorial next year as he wanted to pursue other opportunities outside of coaching, so Merideth took back the title and now looks forward to lead the team in the foreseeable future.
“I am super excited about [the new position]; it is going to be a lot of fun,” Merideth said. “ We have a good group of players with great character, which makes coaching them even more fun.”
Merideth knows what it takes to win because he was also once a football player. He won back-to-back state championships in his junior and senior years at Midwest City High School and won two conference titles in his last two years at Northeastern State University. Being in the position of his players helps Merideth connect more with them and what play style will work for the football team.
“I’m excited about the coach change because he was on staff before, so he understands what we are trying to do here,” junior Quarterback David McComb said.
Despite the coaching change, Merideth said that he does not plan to make many new changes for the next football season. Mentioning that him and Thomas have very similar coaching styles, which means that not many changes will be necessary for the team. Merideth said that his most crucial change to the team is that he coaches in a more old-school style of coaching football compared to Thomas’ more modern coaching style, which worked well in the past for the football team.
“I think it will be a benefit for the team overall, McComb said. “We just needed to find the right direction and for someone to step up to take the role.”
Players who have had Merideth as their coach for their specific position, such as junior defensive line and tight end Leland Smith, believe that Merideth can bring the team back to where it needs to be with all of his experience as a coach.
“Coach Merideth has been my linebacker coach for the last two years, so I have nothing but good things to say about him,” Smith said.
The football team is excited to welcome coach Merideth as their new head football coach again for the 2024 season and can not wait to see what he will accomplish next season.
Contact Ryder Richardson at [email protected]
