'The spark is back': Rodney Daniels takes over as head coach of East Union football

Loss after loss, East Union football could feel the 2023-24 season slipping away. The Lancers would finish with a 3-7 overall record prompting the firing of the head coach and a search for someone who could lead them to victories.

That’s where Rodney Daniels came in.

“I saw the position vacant here and I hopped right on it,” Daniels said. “It gave me the opportunity to come back with the freshmen that I coached two years ago, and now they're juniors. I am extremely grateful to the Athletic Director Abbas Akhtar and Principal Eric Simoni for taking a chance on me.”

With his previous history as East Union freshman football head coach and more recently as Sierra’s JV head coach, Daniels is looking to be the guy to bring pride back to Lancer football.

From a Timberwolf to a Lancer

Before landing his first varsity head coaching gig, Daniels was dawning blue and white playing football and graduating from one of East Union’s crosstown rivals Sierra. The Class of 2007 alum has traded in his blue for red as did his father Rodney Sr. and brother Jarrod who also are joining the Lancers coaching staff this year.

Together they are looking to change not only the team’s culture but also the school’s culture when it comes to its athletic programs.

“Some people view us as the 3-7 type of team and we are working on changing the mindset — how these kids approach it,” Rodney Daniels said. “If they get stuck in that 3-7 mindset then it’s gonna stay onto the next season. We’re looking to kind of just destroy that old mindset and begin rebuilding.”

Keys to the rebuild don’t involve a ton of change. Daniels plans to keep East Union’s fast-paced huddle offense but wants the team to have more discipline and that boils down to the mental aspect of the game.

“I tried to establish early on what my expectations are of this team,” Rodney Daniels said. “This is me as a coach taking over the program. I expect all my coaches and my players to meet that expectation.”

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Players are already feeling the difference with the offseason being filled with quick-tempo and efficient practices. More guys have been showing up to summer practice all gearing up for the 2024-25 season and a competitive Valley Oak League schedule.

“The spark is back,” said Anthony Morales, East Union’s senior quarterback. “I think maybe the attitude changed. We got new coaches that believe in us, they really do, and they know that we can do better than last year.”

Ready to bounce back

Some of the Lancers' key returners this upcoming season are Morales, juniors Jackson Fay and Brayden Camara, and seniors Kirk Simoni and Blake Mount. Morales and Simoni are still battling it out for the first-string quarterback position. Last season, Simoni was the go-to, throwing for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Fay and Mount were the guys catching Simoni’s dimes leading the team’s wide receiver core. Mount caught for over 800 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns. The just as speedy Fay followed him with eight receiving touchdowns and 704 yards.

“We have a lot of guys working really hard just trying to get better every single day,” Fay said. “I feel like I’ve gotten a little taller, a little stronger. I’ve obviously gotten a little faster too and that has helped my offseason a lot.”

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Leading East Union’s defense will be middle linebacker Camara who will play two ways as running back on offense. In his sophomore season, he finished with the second-most total tackles on the team with 40 averaging close to six tackles per game. He will be the heart of this year’s defense who may be on the smaller size.

With Daniels, a revamped team culture and curating the right pieces to the puzzle, the Lancers are looking to redeem themselves and mark their territory as a sports threat in the 209.

“Last season stung, I mean it did hurt, but this year we’re ready to bounce back,” Camara said. “With all the losing last year, it just separated us we were pointing fingers, fighting, and all that. But with Coach Daniels, it’s so much better and we’re all getting close because we know it’s going to be different this year.”

Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: 'The spark is back': Rodney Daniels takes over as head coach of East Union football