The senior class of football players at Shelbyville High School were in sixth grade when many of the current coaching staff were last in charge of the Golden Bears.

Pat Parks was the head coach in 2017 when Shelbyville finished 7-3 – the program’s last winning season. Scott Fitzgerald was the offensive coordinator. The duo that led Shelbyville to two of its best three-season stretches (29-6 from 2007-2009 and 23-8 from 2015-2017) are back – but in different roles.

Fitzgerald is now the head coach while Parks will serve as defensive coordinator. Former Golden Bear John Werbe will handle the offensive play-calling duties leaving Fitzgerald to oversee the development of the entire program.

“Really from the get go, all these kids really bought into what we are selling and understanding that it takes hard work each and every day in order for them to get where they want to get to,” said Fitzgerald at Shelbyville’s Media Day event Wednesday. “They want to win football games. They want to enjoy themselves. They want to have a great experience out there. It wasn’t going to just happen.

“Having the background that we have, those guys knowing and lot of them playing elementary ball when we were still coaching, they knew us. They know what we are about. They were able to buy into it and do the things we needed them to do.”

Fitzgerald (photo), in his first role as head coach at the varsity level, replaces Brian Glesing who finished his two-year career 2-15. Glesing resigned at Shelbyville in the spring to become the head coach at Salem High School.

Graduation took Shelbyville’s leading tackler in Cael Lux and best athlete in Jackson Parker, but the new coaching staff has a strong senior class to build around, including senior quarterback Eli Chappelow, who will play for his third head coach this season.

“It is a change but at the same time I’ve had three head coaches in my high school career. I’ve actually run four different offenses, so yeah, a new one every year I guess,” said Chappelow (photo). “With this (offense), I think we can do some great things. Coach Werbe, our offensive coordinator, is doing some great things with our offense.”

Werbe will count on Chappelow to be an efficient passer while not abandoning the run game that Shelbyville found success with in 2022.

“We will throw the ball a little bit more but a lot of it will be a controlled passing game, a little more West Coast style where you are not necessarily looking to chuck the ball down the field,” explained Fitzgerald. “We still need to keep the clock running. We have to keep it at a slower pace. We are not trying to be up tempo. I think that would work against us with as many kids as we will have going both ways. I don’t think that does us any good. We have to be able to run the football … I want to run the football. In high school football, you’ve got to run the football and win in the trenches.”

There is more size and experience on the offensive line this season anchored in the middle by senior Jacob Harker (photo).

“I think there is tons of excitement (around the football program),” said Harker. “I think we are headed toward the time where this program is going to turn around. We are going to surprise people. We have to win more conference games. And we have to start out 1-0. I am not interested in going home sad on Friday nights anymore.”

The First Friday event tonight in downtown Shelbyville will celebrate the kick off to the 2023 football season. Players and cheerleaders will be downtown to meet with fans and enjoy a concert by Colton Chapman.

For the first time in Shelbyville’s football history that dates back to 1927, the Golden Bears will play every regular season game on artificial turf. Greensburg is currently finishing the installation of artificial turf at its facility for its season opener against Shelbyville on Aug. 18. Shelbyville will play on the synthetic surface at New Castle on Sept. 8, Greenfield-Central on Sept. 15, New Palestine on Sept. 29 and Pendleton Heights on Oct. 13.

McKeand Stadium at Shelbyville is joining the long list of high schools with artificial turf as its renovation project that also includes new goalposts and a new track surface is nearing completion.

“Yeah, it’s fun to be here,” said sophomore Donavon Martin (photo), who will have a bigger role as a featured running back this season. “We have a whole bunch of new stuff coming. A whole bunch of new opportunities. (The artificial turf) helps us all as a team and all of our sports.”

The field is expected to be ready for Shelbyville’s home opener on Aug. 25 against Rushville. The Golden Bears also will host Delta (Sept. 1), Yorktown (Sept. 22) and Mt. Vernon (Oct. 6) this season.

Fitzgerald’s immediate goal is to keep the program expectations simple.

“We are trying not to look too far ahead. Our mantra is “Win the Day,” he said. “I know it sounds a little cliché but we try to live by that where whatever you are doing that day, we are going to get better today and if we get 1% better each day, that is going to grow over the summer and over the season as we go along.

“I’ve told the kids several times, my only goal right now is 1-0. We have to go into Greensburg and we can’t go 2-0 if we don’t go 1-0. So we are going to work on Greensburg and focus on them and then hit everything as it comes after that.”

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