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2023 season right around the corner.

No, they still don't offer athletic scholarships.

Advantage Bears

I think after the Combine, Richardson is going to be the guy who starts climbing up people’s draft boards. But I don’t think he’s the kind of rookie you can trot out there Week One. He’s a project.

Assistant Coach Justin Fischer takes over at Mt Vernon (Posey) as the Wildcats look up at an imposing PAC Big School Division that includes Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills and Boonville. Fischer likes his returning talent and is spending the offseason building depth to better challenge the conference leaders . Q&A with Coach Justin Fischer Question 1 Hello Coach Fischer and welcome to Hoosier Prep Gridiron. Certainly, its been a busy offseason as you have gotten acclimated with your role as the new head football coach at Mt Vernon High School. For our readers who are not familiar with your personal background, can you tell us a little bit about your educational and playing background and how and when you decided to get into coaching? Response Graduated from South Spencer HS, so I have familiarity with the PAC. After high school, I played at University of Indianapolis, which seems like a lifetime ago. Currently, this is my 18th year in education, and I have served as assistant principal here at Mount Vernon (Posey) for the last 6 years. As far as coaching, have been an assistant coach for 16 of those years. Have coached at the 5A, 1A, and now 3A level in Indiana. So, I think that has been a learning experience in itself to see how it differs at each level. The highlight would be being the defensive coordinator at North Vermillion when we won the 2014 1A State Championship. Simply put, I got into coaching because my high school coaches had such a positive impact on my life. Tim McIntosh (football), Roger Guth (basketball), Jim Haaff & Brian Kuester (baseball). I am forever indebted to those individuals, and many of the assistant coaches I had in high school. Question 2 Mt Vernon has had an up and down history in football and plays in the tough Pocket Athletic Conference , which has some outstanding football schools including Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, Southridge and others. What was it about this particular position that drew your interest ? Response Well, I have worked here for the past 6 years as assistant principal, and been defensive coordinator for the last 3 years. So, I already have good knowledge of the program and school. The background of our kids might be a little different here at Mount Vernon than the schools you mentioned. However, there are challenges at every school, just different ones. The grass isn't always greener elsewhere. The program is in a good place and I feel that we can be competitive with anyone. Question 3 From a philosophical point of view, what do you like to do offensively relative to your scheme and mode of attack? Conversely, what are your core tendencies on defense and what has worked for you in the past and do you anticipate working well with Mount Vernon? Response Likely that for now that we will stick with the spread attack on offense. We have a quarterback that has a nice skill set that is conducive to that type of offense. And, we think it fits our other kids as well. On the defensive side, I think you need the flexibility to be different each week. We don't get stuck in 1 defense per se. Our defensive structure for the week usually depends on the opponent that we are playing. Question 4 Mt Vernon always has some nice individual athletic talent. What can you tell us about the current talent level and experience on the roster, and what type of feeder system is currently in place to ensure that the varsity roster is stocked for years to come? Response We feel like we have a good talent level to be successful now. We should have around 12-13 seniors this year, which is a good group overall. I think the feeder system is imperative. Being named the new head coach, I'm just getting the layout of some of those things. At times, we have a really nice class followed by one with low numbers. That has been part of the reason for some lean years in the past. Youth numbers are better than ever. We have to keep it that way to sustain success. Question 5 The PAC is a tough football Conference with a big school, small school divisional setup. What are your overall thoughts on the conference in general relative to style of play, physicality, roster depth, and the quality of coaching staffs you will find throughout the conference? Response I feel the PAC is a great conference. Competitive and tough each week. Most recently, the conference has had some really talented kids to go on and play at a high level in college. Maybe at times some of that talent gets overlooked? For example, Devin Mockobee wasn't highly sought after by a lot of colleges. But, I can tell you if you coached against him his senior year, you knew he was special. The coaching in this conference is outstanding and presents a lot of challenges each week. From my perspective, I feel it was possible to maybe win more games with coaching solely at the 1A level. At this level in 3A, if you want to be really good, you need some difference makers. Teams that are really good in 3A are solid across the board, well coached, but also have a few kids that are special. Often at the 1A level, you don't see that caliber of kid. Question 6 Coach Messmer had a solid run at Mt Vernon and had some success with several of his teams despite the high level of competition both in and out of the conference. What are your short-term goals as you assess the current state of the program, and do you feel that MV can potentially become a factor in both the conference and in the postseason tournament? Response My goal is simple- to give our kids the best possible experience they can have while being football players at Mount Vernon. Success is doing the best you can, not necessarily focusing on the result. As a high school football coach, there is more to success than strictly wins & losses. Focus on the things needed to be successful, and let the score take care of itself. I know ultimately people will judge you on wins and losses, which I'm not overly concerned with. I do think we can and will have success within the conference and the postseason. However, you are correct in that it will be challenging. Please follow our page if you like this content

No. That's good. Reitz is Ivy League of the SIAC.

D-Day for HNAC note.

Evan Lawrence (2024), 6'7" & 255lb Offensive Tackle from Danville. Has been offered a full scholarship from Indiana State to play offensive line!