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Mineral Springs hires Lafayette County football coach Jason Hathcock

Hathcock was at LC for a season and led them to the playoffs.

By Kyle Sutherland  

More spring football coaching news came out of Howard County on Monday evening when Lafayette County head coach Jason Hathcock announced on social media that he has taken the same position at Mineral Springs, where he will also serve as co-athletic director and dean of students. 

In his first head coaching job at Lafayette County in 2021, Hathcock took over a Cougars team coming off an 0-8 season that had won only seven games since 2016. Last fall, LC finished second in the 2A-7 and won the school’s first playoff game since 2015. Hathcock has also had coaching stints at Barton, Bismarck, Poyen and his alma mater, Glen Rose. 

“We had a great year [at Lafayette County],” Hathcock said. “A lot of great people, a lot of good support from the community and administration. The kids really bought into the program and that was really good.”

Hathcock also mentioned that he did not plan on leaving Lafayette County until about a week ago, when he and his longtime friend, Jondavid Amerson, the principal and now athletic director at Mineral Springs, revisited a prior conversation.

One of the wins Lafayette County had last season was a 64-8 pummeling of Mineral Springs in Week 6, and it was then that Amerson first threw out the idea of the two working together someday.

“I guess after we beat them, that’s when he had told me before if I ever get a chance to hire a football coach, I am going to hire you,” Hathcock said. “The opportunity came, and the facilities here are awesome, the vision of the district is good and in line with where I want to go. All this happened within a week, and now we are here.”

Along with Lafayette County, Hathcock has been a part of rebuilding programs at previous stops, so he fully understands the challenge. Mineral Springs has struggled as of recent with only one winning season in the past decade and has not won more than four games since 2018.

“After seeing the kids, they are very hungry, attentive and willing to work,” Hathcock said. “They have the talent here; I think they just need a little direction. Me being so experienced with rebuilds, I feel like I am just the man for the job to get us there.”

The Hornets have not won an outright conference title since 2002, but from what Hathcock has seen, he believes they can compete sooner than later.

“You’re going to think I am crazy, but I fully expect us to push to win a conference championship in the near future” Hathcock said. “I told the kids that the coaches, support, facilities and talent are all in place, but what I can’t measure is their heart. We will see what kind of heart they have and what kind of buy-in they give me this year. That will depend on how far we go.”

Mineral Springs will move from the 2A-7 to 2A-3 for the 2022-24 conference cycle, joining Dierks, Foreman, Lafayette County, Mount Ida, Murfreesboro and Poyen.