Jason Gibson relishes opportunity to build at Glenwood

Jason Gibson’s summer vacation lasted all of two days.

After leading the Columbus Lions to the AIF championship on June 18, there was a short respite from football-related activities before his attention turned 100 percent to his newest endeavor: Coaching the Glenwood football team.

Now, the high-energy coach is focused on building a Gators program from the ground up and creating an environment in which players can succeed and look at fondly years down the line.

“There’s a chance to do something here, where 10 years down the road people can say, ‘I remember when,’” he said. “And I want to be a part of that.”

He said he’s always been a builder. His wife calls him a football entrepreneur, a description he enjoys. He likes to put his hands on something, mold it and promote progress. While he acknowledged that it won’t happen overnight at Glenwood, he said he relishes the opportunity.

“Hopefully I can build the same kind of reputation we built with the Lions,” he said. “They want it. They’re hungry for knowledge.”

It’s that hunger that brought him to Glenwood in the first place.

His hunger. The administration’s hunger. The players’ hunger. It all played a part in convincing him to take on another job that would, in effect, turn football into a year-round commitment.

“The support and the want to win from the administration, it was hard to say no,” he said when describing what it was that led him to accept the job. “There’s a lot of factors. Four years ago, would I be able to do this? No. But we’ve kind of built the machine (with the Lions) where it can continue to run.”

Now, he’s trying to change the culture of the entire program from the varsity team all the way down to elementary school. The challenge hasn’t so much been adjusting to anything on the field, but in getting things to where they need to be to operate as a team and encourage development from a young age.

“Honestly, the main focus right now for me is to get the whole school involved and building the program from the pee wees up,” he said. “Third, fourth and fifth grade. Building a true program.”

He said he has had over 100 individuals out over different parts of the summer.

“My goal is to make sure those numbers continue to increase from a young age,” he said.

Over time, if those numbers do increase, the program will begin to shift. For now, though, he isn’t so much worried about how many wins the team can get.

He knows a new coach, especially one with the reputation he’s got, can be like a shiny new car. There are going to be expectations within and outside of the program.

“But there’s a lot of hard work to be done,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement and expectations are high, and they should be high. But I’m looking at the overall results of everything. … Right now, it’s just a proces of making everything functional. Getting things to where they need to be for us to operate as a team.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Jason Gibson relishes opportunity to build at Glenwood."