Longtime assistant Hazzard is excited to lead Lake Erie

“Getting the job didn’t go the way I wanted it, and I could have quit, but I didn’t and I kept working. And it paid off.”

When Jerry Hazzard joined Coach Mark McNellie’s staff in 2007, Lake Erie College was embarking on building a football program from scratch.

Ten years later, Hazzard is still with the program, but this season feels a lot like 2007 all over again.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Hazzard. “Right now, our roster is about 65 percent freshmen, so we are teaching these kids everything. How to act in meetings, in the cafeteria, how to practice. Then the Xs and Os come after all of that.

“So it’s very similar to how it was when we started the program.”

The roster isn’t the only thing that feels new with the LEC football team.

Hazzard himself is new, as he begins his first season as head coach. He spent the last 10 seasons as the offensive coordinator under former coach McNellie.

When McNellie resigned after seven games last season, Hazzard applied for the job but didn’t get it. Jeff Horrocks landed it on Dec. 29, but he didn’t last long. On Feb. 6, Horrocks resigned, amid controversy.

In between Horrocks’ hiring and resignation, Hazzard stayed on staff. The decision paid off.

A day after Horrocks’ resignation, Hazzard was named the replacement.

“I told the kids, ‘I’m not going to quit on you and I won’t quit on myself.’ ” said Hazzard. “Getting the job didn’t go the way I wanted it, and I could have quit, but I didn’t and I kept working. And it paid off.”

The 37-year-old Hazzard is right around where he hoped to be at this point in his career. He set a goal to be a head coach at 35 — a dream that began when Hazzard was in middle

MARK PODOLSKI — THE NEWS-HERALD Longtime Lake Erie assistant Jerry Hazzard is in his first year as the Storm’s head football coach.