There has been a consistent challenge Benson has experienced over the past half-decade: inconsistent coaching. As coaching positions shift through a cycle of new beginnings and the ends of eras, student athletes and staff undergo the effects of an unstable coaching environment.
Teams are shaping a new future for Benson sports guided by new coaches and changing past training methods, each sport must also acknowledge the history of this reoccurring issue.
Benson football has had three head coaches over the last four football seasons. Terrence Mackey in 22-23, Elliot Zadow in 23-25 and now currently Shaka Taylor for the 25-26 season.
For Athletic Director Deondre Jones, most of his time has been spent filling the vacancies in the coaching staff.
“It’s been tough, it’s something that I thought about when I took the job,” Jones said. “It’s the stability of previous places that I’ve been and seeing how effective it was makes it important to me.”
With the hiring of Taylor as the new head football coach, Jones plans this as the stable and long-term solution to the issue.
“Everybody tends to have a one year and a three-year plan, but do you have a five, or a seven?” Jones said. “So, when we had those interviews, I was very adamant with asking each coach what their long-term plan for them and Benson High School is.”
While the stability of the program has been affected, the main blowback falls upon the football players that have persisted despite the troubles.
“The main effect is learning and practicing with each coach that shifts in and out,” senior Shai Bullion said. “If we could get a coach willing to stick it out, we would preform better with time to refine all the coaches have taught us.”
The loss of coaches has also particularly affected the swimming team, which has been led by a new head coach each season for the past three years. Paul Callahan in 23-24, David Anderson in 24-25 and now Scott Bleyhl during the 25-26 season. This change in staff has created instability within the team atmosphere.
“The method for when they teach your form and how you swim changes because the generations of the coaches changed a lot,” swim captain senior Maya Coleman said. “Callahan is about mid-thirties, I don’t know how old Bleyhl is, and Anderson was way older, and they all had different expectations.”
Although coaching is a passion for every leader who steps into the position, they can have a challenging time balancing coaching with coaches’ lifestyles.
“The coaches had different things going on, family wise, and it is a blessing and a curse when it comes to coaching,” Bleyhl said. “There’s already so many hats we wear, security detail, physical therapists, janitorial staff— I even have the keys to match.”
Another major factor in the loss of coaches at Benson is due to changes in athletes. Athletes consistently move in and out of the district searching for a new athletic program with better opportunities. While coaches must work to support and motivate young athletes, it is difficult to do so in the present athletic environment.
“It’s not the school’s problem, it’s a sectioning problem,” Bleyhl said. “Anybody can go to any high school anywhere and get the right deal, and when you allow for that, that’s like a college opening up portals.”
Changes in coaches and teammates damage the atmospheres athletes compete in. Most athletes are not prepared to experience a new coaching style when a coach steps up, which can create conflict and frustration.
“We got super used to how super awesome and nice Callahan was, and when Anderson showed up, one of our swimmers, Kylle, was gone for a whole week because he wanted to quit,” Coleman said.
Regardless of the difficulties, Benson’s swim coaches stay committed to the team and are optimistic about the team’s future stability.
“Me and Coach Meier already said, ‘until I die or retire, I am going to be here at Monroe’,” Bleyhl said. “I don’t think I got another place I’m going to go and Benson’s swim team is such a wonderful experience.”
As consistency begins to bloom within the swimming and football department, the problem extends to other sports.
Benson’s baseball team shares the same situation. Although baseball is only experiencing their second head coach in four years, the supporting coaching staff has changed nearly every year since 2023.
“I think there’s a lot of instability here,” former assistant coach Corey Porter said. “When it comes down to it, we don’t have a baseball field, we don’t have the numbers for baseball players here and we don’t have a lot of guys who have played baseball before.”
Aside from coaching, the Bunnies baseball team has a 1-61 winning record in the last three years going into the 25-26 season.
“I think there is a disconnect with the coaches, like not understanding our type of kid that’s in our kid that’s in our building,” Porter said. “I think the pace of baseball is just different than other sports and harder to pick up on moments notice.”
Despite the challenges, team captain senior Dylan Marshall stays optimistic and positive looking retrospectively on the past while preparing for the future.
“The coaching changes didn’t affect me a lot because in my opinion they were all great coaching and willing to the to better the athletes,” Marshall said. “I’m grateful someone was here to do that for us.”
The 2025-2026 season is the first year under new baseball coach Carl Bray. Looking towards the future and foundation for Benson’s baseball team, the players are excited.
“I believe we can turn the program around with the new incomers we have this year and work towards getting a few wins to build from in the future,” Marshall said.
With multiple first year coaches filling vacancies in the sports of Benson, Jones is confident and looking forward to the progression of bunnies athletics.
“Here at Benson, we’ve hired the right people to bring in to for a start in our school,” Jones said. “To make things better, make it a safe, fun environment and where kids and rely on not only their coach, but also their teammates to have their back so that they can know that things are better.”
