2010 Coaching Staff | | |  Larry Cox
Head Coach
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| School | Year(s) | Record | Win % | | Bellbrook | 1995-96 | 13-7 | 65.0% | | Lakota West | 1997-08 | 73-60 | 54.9% | | Total | 15 seasons | 86-67 | 56.2% |
Larry Cox became Lakota West's head coach when the school was established in 1997. Before coming to West, Cox had spent two years (1995-96) as the head coach at Bellbrook High School where he was named the Southwest Buckeye Conference Coach Of Year in 1995. Cox has led nine of his West teams to top 10 rankings in the Cincinnati Metro area, and has taken three of these teams (2004 , 2006,& 2009) to the State playoffs. The 2004 playoff berth was the first for a Lakota school after the district split into East and West in 1997. For his efforts in 2004, Cox was selected by his peers as Co-South West Ohio Coach Of The Year. Cox and his coaching staff have seen eighty-three of their former Firebird charges go on to play in college, nineteen at the NCAA D-1 FBS level. Cox played for Hamilton Badin High School teams that reached the state finals in 1980 and state quarter finals in 1981. He earned All Southwest Ohio recognition in '81. Before taking his first head coaching assignment at Bellbrook, Cox had been the Freshman coach for three years at his alma mater, Hamilton Badin, and had also served as an assistant at Hamilton High School. Coach Cox is a physical education teacher at Lakota West. |  Carlton Gray
Defensive Coordinator Coaching Experience:
Carlton joined the Lakota West football coaching staff in 2004. He served for three seasons as the defensive back coach before he became defensive coordinator. He is also a Lakota West assistant coach for both girls basketball and for track and field. He himself excelled in basketball and track as a prep, earning all Cincinnati honors in each.
Playing Experience:
Professional-Gray was an NFL Corner Back for eight seasons appearing in over 100 games. He was drafted in 1993 by Seattle and played four years for the Seahawks. He spent the 1997 season with the Indianapolis Colts, played the 1998 season for the New York Giants, then added two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs before his retirement from professional football.
College - Gray played four seasons for the UCLA Bruins where he was named to the Hickok Sports Publications All American team following his senior season . Additional college honors included twice being selected as an Academic All American (junior and senior years) by the College Sports Information Directors Association (COSIDA). He graduated from UCLA in 1992.
High School - Gray was an All Cincinnati football and basketball player, and an all city track star at Forest Park High school before his graduation in 1988.
Current: Gray is the Intervention Coordinator at Lakota West working with students needing help with learning problems. |  Jeff Wadl
Offensive Line Jeff has over 25 years of coaching experience with stops at Purcell, Withrow, Western Hills, and Middletown in addition to Lakota West. This will be Wadl's tenth season coaching the Firebirds. Wadl was a standout high school lineman at Western Hills. A social studies teacher at West since the school opened in 1997, Wadl is also well known to Lakota West sports fans for his activities as a public adress announcer in recent years for boys varsity basketball.
|  Bob Odom
Offensive Line Bob joined the Lakota West staff in 2008, just the latest in a long list of high school coaching assignments totaling 37 years of coaching experience. Most prominent among these previous assignments was 28 years (1978-2005) at Moeller high school where he helped coach five state championship and three national championship teams. Over his career Odom has coached 32 offensive linemen who have gone on to play at D-1 colleges. Included in this number have been his son (Tim, Moeller 1982, Ohio State) and his grandson (Jake, Lakota West 2009, Eastern Illinois). In his high school days Odom played on the 1959 Kentucky AA State Championship team from Henderson. |  Matt Walton
Running Backs Matt joined the Lakota West Staff in 2008 having coached the two previous years at Northwest and Oak Hills high schools. He will be working primarily with the running backs this year following last years assignment as a wide receiver coach. Walton played four years at Mt. St. Joseph's college. He was a tight end on Lion teams that won the Heartland Conference Championship and participated in the NCAA D-III playoffs. As a prep Walton played for Colerain Cardinal teams that won the GMC championship in both 2000 and 2001. Walton is a social studies/history teacher at Lakota West. |
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|  Donnie Brooks
Defensive Backs Donnie joined the Lakota West coaching staff in 2004 following ten seasons of coaching youth football for the Greater Cincinnati Buckeye Youth Association. Brooks played multiple positions for Forrest Park high school but was especially noted for his contributions to the defense. He was honored as a member of the All-Southwest Ohio team at the safety position following his senior season in 1989. |  Chris Wolf
Defensive Line/Strength & Conditioning Chris became the team strength & conditioning coach in 2008. In 2009 his duties were expanded to include on field coaching of the defensive line. |  Guy Westmoreland
Wide Receivers Guy joined the Lakota staff in 2009 bringing five years of high school coaching experience gained at Fairfield and Withrow. He coached wide receivers for both the 2004 and 2007 Withrow state playoff teams. Westmoreland knows the position both as a coach and a player. In his prep days he was a wide receiver at Withrow. Westmoreland is a member of the Lakota Tech Department where he works as a System Support Technician. |  Jamal White
Linebacker and Special Teams Coaching Experience:
Jamal is new to the Firebird coaching staff but not new to coaching high school football. He got his start in 2006 at Colerain helping guide the Cardinals to a 13-1 season which included a state final four appearance. He has coched the past three seasons at Lakota East. Playing Experience:
Professional- White was on the 2003 Cleveland Browns roster and assigned to their practice squad. He played the 2004 NFL Europe season as a starter for the Berlin Germany Thunder. College- White was a 2002 graduate and four year letter winner for the University of Kentucky. While there he played in the Outback Bowl and the Music City Bowl games. White was a starting linebacker for the 2001 Wildcats. Highschool- White was a multi-season football letter winner at Colerain. In his senior season (1997), Colerain's first year in the GMC, White was honored as an all GMC first team, all Cincinnati first team, and all Ohio first team selectee. He was also chosen to play in the Ohio North/South post season all-star game.
|  Phil Sams
JV Offensive Line and Tight Ends Phil has joined the Firebird coaching staff this year having coached several years in the Lakota Tomahawks youth football organization. Sams was a two year starter, 1990 and 1991, for the Lakota Thunderbirds. He was voted to all GMC teams at the conclusion of both seasons. In those years he was paired at offensive tackle with Brian Stratton (Lakota HOF), a combination that helped power the Thunderbirds to back-to-back 8-2 seasons. Sam's went on to letter for Mt. St. Joseph College in Indiana., |  Sam Proffit
JV Defense and Special Teams
Sam joined the Lakota West high school coaching staff in 2008. He brought with him seven years of coaching experience at the middle school level. Proffit played safety and was a two year varsity letter winner at Dayton Dunbar high school. |  Barney Bussey
Volunteer Assistant Coach Coaching Experience:
Barney joined the Firebird staff in 2004 coaching both running and defensive backs. Prior to that. he had served as the Lakota Plains Junior High offensive coordinator for two seasons and had coached in the Lakota Tomahawk organization for five years.
Playing Experience:
Professional- Bussey played multiple defensive and special teams positions in over 150 professional games spanning twelve seasons. He was drafted in 1984 in the first round of the United States Football League draft by the Memphis Showboats and in the 5th round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. After playing two seasons in Memphis, where he was named All USFL first team, Bussey signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL. He is best remembered locally for his exploits over seven seasons with the Bengals. In 1987 he returned 21 kick-offs for 409 yards and in 1988 was the leading special teams tackler for the Bengals team that played in Superbowl XXIII. He concluded his professional career in 1995 following three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
College - Bussey was a two time All American selectee at South Carolina State University, class of 1984.
High School- Bussey stared in football at Lincoln County High in Georgia where he graduated in 1980.
Current: Supervisor of Manufacturing |  Jack Jeffery
Equipment Manager Jack handles all aspects of equipment management serving Plains and Ridge junior highs in addition to Lakota West high school. He is responsible for fitting and maintenance of equipment used by over 200 Lakota district athletes.
On game night’s he does emergency equipment repair and helps supervise the student manager corp. A former Tomahawk and Lockland High school coach, Jack is currently retired. | |
Brady Holmer, Junior
Amanda Shelby, Junior
