It’s been an exciting spring for Siloam Springs assistant football coach Ehldane Labitad.
The former Panthers football standout was recently promoted to the varsity football staff as defensive line coach, and on May 31 he got married to his wife, Rachel.
The Labitads had to alter their wedding plans a bit because of the covid-19 pandemic, Ehldane Labitad said, but added he was “very blessed to say the least.”
“We made it happen,” he said. “I am thankful for her. She’s been on board since day one. I’m just glad that I found someone that’s willing to put up with that.”
Labitad was back to work in football offseason on Thursday of last week.
Labitad returned to the Siloam Springs School District in the fall of 2017 as a junior high coach and also volunteering with the high school staff.
The last two seasons he has coached seventh- and eighth-grade football along with soccer in the spring.
Labitad will still coach eighth-grade football in the mornings and head over to the high school for varsity in the afternoons, according to head coach Brandon Craig.
“It’s a great opportunity for him,” Craig said. “He’s a Siloam guy. He’s been here. He’s a young guy. We need the enthusiasm. We want to keep young coaches around long term. We’re excited to have him.”
Labitad said he’s excited about the opportunity.
“It’s been a great journey back in the district and everything,” he said. “Being a part of the varsity staff the first year I was volunteering. But also seeing these seniors now, who started out as freshmen my first year, it’s just great to see them grow. I look forward to hopefully helping them grow as men on the field and off the field their last year here.”
Labitad played offensive line at Siloam Springs under three different head coaches from Chris Mc-Bride (2003), Billy Dawson (2004) and Clint Ashcraft (2005).
He said he learned a lot from then offensive line coach Ritchie Mathis as well as defensive line coach Dwain Pippin, who’s still on the junior high staff, and wants to carry that over to his coaching.
“That’s what I told the boys whenever I told them I was going to coach Dline,” Labitad said. “I told them that our mentality was we’re going to be aggressive. I want to be aggressive on the D-line. Any good fan knows the game is won in the trenches. Just like you said, I have that mentality that Coach Mathis brought along with Coach Pippin. Hopefully I can transfer that over to the next generation.”
With Labitad’s promotion to the varsity staff, Craig said coach Henry Janes will move down to the junior high staff. Janes has coached wide receivers the last several years for the Panthers’ varsity.
“Coach Janes, he was ready to make a change,” Craig said. “He’s been coaching high school for a long time. It’s a lot of hours and a lot of work. When you get to our age, you get to that time where your kids are a certain age and you want to spend more time with them. It’s a great opportunity for him and his family.”