Shepherd says support at Bellevue is 'superb'

BELLEVUE — Alex Shepherd thought coaching football at Bellevue would be a good job when he was hired in February. What he's seen so far has not disappointed. "It's great. The community is great and the administration support is superb," Shepherd said last week. "Everything I thought about when I was interested in the job has been 100 percent. The booster club tries to do everything they can to help us get what we need. "The kids are tough, hard workers. A lot of the staff from last year is back." Shepherd is Bellevue's fourth head coach since 1952 and is following hall-of-famer Ed Nasonti, who was on the Bellevue staff before Shepherd was born. "Ed stops in on occasion at practice or the weight room. I get to talk with him a decent amount," Shepherd said. "He's supportive and hands off. It's good to have him around. People like to see him and stuff. It's been a good transition." Nasonti won 260 games in 34 seasons as Bellevue's head coach and was on the staff for 44 years. Shepherd, 35, has been around other big-name coaches. He was an assistant at St. Paul under hall-of-famer John Livengood and most recently spent four years as an assistant at Medina Buckeye. "Probably one of the things that helps me a little bit is I've worked for a couple other legends in their own right," Shepherd said. "Greg Dennison at Buckeye is a hall of famer. He's won 250 games. Livengood won 300. That probably helps my transition in this environment. A lot of the things I've learned was from those guys." Shepherd, a South Central graduate, played college football at Capital University. He did an internship in Denison University's weight room as a senior, and after graduation, he decided he wanted to work in the college game. "I got two offers — one was at Tulsa and one was at UAB," Shepherd said. "I knew a little bit more about Alabama so that's where I went." He was Alabama-Birmingham's strength coach in the spring of 2014 before taking a job as assistant tight ends coach. UAB then shut down its football program and Shepherd and some other coaches on staff ended up at South Alabama. He was a graduate assistant for two years and helped coach tight ends and quarterbacks. He also got his master's degree while living in Mobile with his future wife, Kara. Grad assistants on college football staffs don't make much money and put in grueling hours. That lifestyle took its toll on Shepherd. "My wife and I were together at that point. We weren't married but we lived together and she kind of supported me for those couple years," he said. "She wasn't making much either, but I was making even less. Part of my transition into high school was because of that. I was asking her to move jobs every time I had to move. At the time I wanted to be a little more stable." Shepherd landed his first full-time coaching job as the tight ends coach at Kentucky Wesleyan. He coached there for one year before joining the staff at Tiffin University. "At that point I was kind of tired about moving around so much," he said. "I had been with three teams in three years in three different states." After Tiffin's coach took a job in Georgia, Shepherd decided to stay in Ohio and pursue a teaching career. He subbed and coached at South Central while finishing his teaching certificate, then got a job at St. Paul, where he coached in 2020. After that, it was off to Medina Buckeye for four years. Shepherd and his wife have two young children, Everett (4) and Elliette (3). Kara is a behavior analyst who works in area schools. The family lives in Wellington, but he hopes to move closer to his new job. He currently is a full-time substitute in the Bellevue system. "We're looking at moving this way, Bellevue if we can," he said. "If not we'll try to get somewhere within 15, 20 minutes. We're looking everywhere. Probably gonna end up focusing on that in the spring." Shepherd, who will run the offense for the Redmen, has plenty on his plate this fall. He started his stint in the program by visiting with every player. "Building relationships was the No. 1 thing," he said. "We all gotta be on the same page." Shepherd's message also included something Bellevue kids have heard for years. "On the field, I tell our kids we've gotta be physical and tough," he said. "We're not always gonna be more talented than the teams we play. Hopefully at some point we are. If we're not gonna be as big or fast we've gotta be more physical. Effort and physicality is what we're trying to start with. "Ed won so many games that it's already here. It's not abnormal for them to work hard and do things the right way. They had a couple down years, but the toughness was already here. That's part of what I knew of Bellevue from the outside. We're trying to make sure that doesn't change."