Justin Vessels Returns Home to Coach Wildcat Football

Edmonson County High School announces its new head coach Justin Vessels (middle), posing in between principal Jonathan Williams (left) and athletic director Kyle Pierce in the ECHS Auditorium Thursday November 30 in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​Home is where you hang your clipboard, and Edmonson County High School’s newest head football coach is back home.
 
Justin Vessels, 42, from Edmonson County had been hanging his clipboard at Barren County for the past three years, but as of Thursday, November 30th, it was officially announced that he will hang it back in Edmonson.
 
“I’m excited to be back, to coach here,” Vessels said. “I’m thankful for the administration and Mr. Alexander having faith in me to bring me back and try to lead the program.”
 
Vessels was born and raised in Edmonson County, graduated from ECHS, and then Western Kentucky. He coached at ECHS previously from 2004-2015 and was very successful according to ECHS athletic director Kyle Pierce.
 
“Justin coached with me for 12 years,” Pierce said. “He was my offensive coordinator here. Arguably, our most successful, ever, offensive year, he called the offense.”
 
Vessels thinks the most difficult thing will be establishing the standard where he wants the work ethic to be, how they practice and how they want to play, he said.

Edmonson County High School's new head coach addresses students, players and staff in the ECHS Auditorium after being announced as the new head coach Thursday November 30 in Brownsville.

​He hopes to build on the momentum Zach Vincent had in growing the team in numbers, as well as continuing to promote the idea of being good citizens in the community, students and athletes, he said.
 
“He’s a good guy,” Vessels said of Zach Vincent.
 
Vessels reflected fondly of coaching Vincent as a running back from his time at ECHS in the past.
 
“I’m looking forward to being back home here, coaching and trying to get this program back to a level we’d all like to see it at,” Vessels said.
 
Vessels knows what it takes to build success. His record at Barren County shows it with improvement in number of wins each year.
 
“The X’s and O’s,” Vessels said, “I’ve done this so long, I understand what I want to do on offense and defense and all that. Probably more important than X’s and O’s is getting the players to buy in and believe in what you’re doing. If you can get that, that’s the big battle.”

Barren County was 3-8 on the season on 2021, 4-7 in 2022 and 5-6 this past year, according to Kentucky High School Athletic Association stats.
 
If Vessels can show that kind of improvement each year, good things are in the future for Edmonson County High School.
 
Hopefully we can continue to add more players and build depth, he said.
 
“It all starts in the off season in the weight room down there,” Vessels said. “You know we have to get bigger, faster, stronger and the more kids we can get up to a high level of strength and conditioning, the more depth we can deal with like that.”
 
Not only does strength and conditioning help performance, he added, it helps prevent injury, too, he said. 

New Edmonson County High School football coach Justin Vessels (left) shakes hands with athletic director Kyle Pierce after being introduced in the ECHS Auditorium Thursday November 30 in Brownsville.

​“I’m really excited to have Justin back,” Pierce said. “He is probably one of the smartest offensive minds you’re going to get around here. He is a tremendous offensive line coach, defensive line coach, but he understands offense like none other.”
 
He likes to run the ball on offense and follow up with play action, in similar formations to the run and plans to highlight talented players wherever needed, Vessels said.  
 
Inside, off-tackle, outside, mis-directions and adaptive audibles in zone-read situations, they will be well rounded and ready for any situation.
 
“I want to hold the players to a high standard of football but also, in the classroom and also in the community,” he said. “I don’t want them to be just good football players, I want them to be good citizens in the community as well.”

Vessel’s work is definitely cut out for him, but if the tenacity of graduating seniors from this year, like quarterback and linebacker Noah Meredith and running back and linebacker Michael Mills have rubbed off on players returning for next year, both players and coaches are in good hands.