Four seasons, four head coaches—for the seniors on the football team, the only constant has been change. At the beginning of every season, the Class of 2026 has not only seen a new coach, but a new philosophy. 

New head coach Calvin Arnold has been in the football program for four years as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator under head coach Kevin Clarke in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the current seniors’ freshman year, the team was coached by Darrell Howard. The following year, boys track coach Delbert Ellerton stepped in as an interim coach for the season. Junior year they were coached by Leroy Hood and Arnold returned to the program as the strength and conditioning coach and defensive line coach alongside Hood. Their time at Midtown ended with Arnold as their head coach their senior year. Arnold said the coaching changes before have impacted team chemistry. 

“I’m the fifth head coach the program has had in the past five years,” Arnold said. “[The coaching staff] stayed consistent for about two years, then we had a total turnover one year, and then another full change the next. That kind of constant movement definitely affects how things operate within a team.”

This turnover has not just been head coaches; there has also been consistent change in special teams coaches, as well as the rest of the staff, affecting more than just mechanics. Senior quarterback Noah Williams said that with new coordinators and coaches each year, the team’s play style constantly shifted from season to season.

“Every year the team feels completely different, and we haven’t had a consistent culture from season to season,” Williams said. “We have to learn new playbooks, different styles of coaching, different styles of play. It’s definitely a hard adjustment every single year. At the beginning of each season we are all just kind of waiting to see what will happen.”

Senior tackle Kwaku Mensah said that because of all the coaching issues, the roster was continuously changing. Due to the coaching changes Mensah said that some of his teammates questioned the program, and their future on the team. Mensah added that with Arnold this year he finally saw some long-term progress for the team. 

“I feel like this year and last year were the most challenging,” Mensah said. “Last year, a lot of folks gave up halfway through the season, but if they would’ve stayed, the program probably would’ve been better. But this year with coach Arnold, I definitely see some consistency.” 

In addition to the loss of players, senior linebacker Robert Rude, who joined his sophomore year, said the adjustment period has had long term effects on player and coach relationships.

“The changes have been a big struggle with overall trust,” Rude said. “For most seniors going into your senior year, you’ve already earned your spot. You already have trust and respect from your team, but for me, I had to earn this over and over again since the whole situation was always new.”

With the uncertainty of what their senior year might’ve looked like, many of the seniors thought about quitting.

“I wasn’t even going to play before this season,” Williams said. “My friends and I all talked about quitting this season, but coach Arnold and coach (Kelly) Christian talked with me about their plans for the team, and it felt like they actually cared about us as people. It all made sense, and I really do enjoy playing football, so I decided to stick with it. Even though it was difficult, it was worth it in the end.” 

Similar to Williams, Rude also considered quitting due to mentally struggling with the coach shifts.

“The constant turnover has majorly affected my growth and love for the game as different coaches teach different techniques and different ways of doing things,” Rude said. “I even considered quitting at the beginning of the season, but I stuck through it since football is one of my favorite things and part of my identity.”

After three years of being a part of a program that felt completely new each year, Williams said that the seniors really wanted to show the younger team a different narrative than what they experienced. Even though the seniors won’t be back in 2026, coach Arnold will return next year and the program will finally see some permanence in a head coach staying for more than one season.

“I feel like our whole senior class tried to lead by example,” Williams said. “We knew our time was limited, so we wanted to start a real culture and help people commit to the program, show up to practice and believe in the team. This year definitely felt more like a brotherhood. Even after starting 0-3, nobody checked out. Everyone kept believing, and that helped us find success later in the season.”

Despite the instability, senior wide receiver Kentrell White—who was previously committed to Power 4 school, Auburn University—is continuing his football career into college, and reopened his commitment on Dec. 2. White said that many teachers at the school, including Arnold and coor

dinator Susanna Roberts, helped guide him through the recruitment process.

“Even though I didn’t have a steady coach to talk everything through over the four years, I had a large support system outside of the football program,” White said. “Ms. Roberts really helped me, taking me on my visits and talking through my decisions with me. Midtown still supported me as a community, and the coaches while I was under them helped me, but I wish there was a little more stability.”

However, this is not the same for senior defensive end Mouhamed Gueye. Gueye said his recruitment opportunities were curbed due to lack of crucial relationships with coaches. While he was still able to commit to Copiah-Lincoln Community College Gueye thinks with more support he could’ve committed to a higher level school.

“Coach Arnold helped me with getting in contact with coaches, but I didn’t have him last year as a resource,” Gueye said. “I feel like if we had him as a head coach my junior and senior year it would have been easier to gain knowledge. If he was the head coach last year, I think I would have gotten in touch with [college] coaches earlier because coach Arnold has a lot of connections with coaches.”

For the seniors, the challenges weren’t just obstacles, they were also learning experiences. White said looking back, the seniors wanted to provide more stability than what they were given.

“The change in coaches really pushed me and other seniors to grow as people because it not only taught us how to adapt to different coaching styles and philosophies but pushed us to be more open-minded and resilient, not only in football, but in life,” White said. “While it was hard [mentally] at times, it helped us learn how to lead and stay consistent no matter who was in charge, or the style of play we were in. After four years, I am really proud of myself and the other seniors for sticking with it even when it was hard, being open to change and giving back to the team, leading the way we weren’t led.”