Lassiter anxious to be part of Houston County High program

mbrown@sunmulti.com

 

One of the coaches responsible for making Johnny O’Neal a

linebacker prospect for the University of Georgia, Von Lassiter is now the head

football coach and athletic director for Houston County High School.

Houston County’s board of education unanimously approved

Lassiter for these positions at Tuesday’s meeting. The search by principal

Michelle Masters began when the 2012 season ended and Greg Robinson, the

football coach and AD for the Bears since 2008, resigned.

“He’s a total package,” said Masters about Lassiter, one of

three candidates interviewed for the jobs. “He’s been an offensive coordinator,

a defensive coordinator, a special teams coordinator, and he has experience as

an assistant athletic director.”

Masters didn’t find these things out in the last month

either. She is a former principal at Bleckley County High, where Lassiter was

an assistant coach for three years.

Lassiter is also a former assistant coach at Northside High

and was a part of the Eagle staff during the 2007 state championship season.

His most recent position was defensive coordinator at West Laurens High School,

where O’Neal was an All-American player and made a commitment to UGA.

“He’s a man of high character and the right fit for our

students,” said Masters, who had lots of applicants. “We had very good

candidates, top notch, all highly qualified. (Lassiter) is the best fit for

Houston County High School.”

“She’s the best in the business,” said Lassiter about

Masters. “She runs a great school, and I wanted to be a part of it.

“I’ve been (in Houston County), so I know what kind of

situation it is here. They are committed to producing good kids and highly

competitive teams.

“Plus, I’ve got three boys, and this is where I want to

raise my family.”

Lassiter only spent one year at West Laurens under head

coach Stacy Nobles. He has also coached at Dublin High School and Mary Persons.

He is a native of Cochran and graduate of Bleckley County High.

He takes no credit for the career O’Neal built at West

Laurens, adding that O’Neal is that type of humble player who will quickly site

the contributions of teammates who enabled him to make so many plays.

Lassiter said he learned much about defense this past year.

At Bleckley, he was offensive line coach. In 2003-04, he was ninth grade coach

at Northside. Lassiter returned to the Eagles as offensive coordinator in

2007-08.

“Coach (Conrad) Nix was like a father to me,” he said. “He

was always a good mentor, and I learned how to run a program from him. It was

real hard work.”

And that’s what Lassiter vows that people will see out of

the Houston County High program. He said it’s not about trying to duplicate

Northside or Warner Robins High, but to make the Bears stronger, faster, better

in the classroom, and winning right away.

“It’s not a two- or three-year plan,” said Lassiter. “We are

going to put a quality product on the field.

“We will be a spread offense with a commitment to run the

ball. We are going to get the ball to our playmakers and see what happens.

We’ll run a 50 defense and drop down to a 4-3 or 3-man looks.”

Lassiter announced that Mike Chastain from Veterans High

will be his offensive coordinator and Ryan Crawford, one of his fellow

assistants from his Northside days, is his defensive coordinator.

As for his duties as athletic director, he said the Bears

already have a lot of good people in place in the various sports and he wants

to see everyone build on their strengths.

Masters said Lassiter’s contract will go into effect beginning

Monday.

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