Brown ready to put his stamp on Blue Streaks

SANDUSKY — Jamaris Brown ran things on the fly last year. This year, Sandusky's second-year football coach is comfortable making his own mark on the program. Brown was elevated from associate head coach to head coach in late June 2024 after a few weeks of uncertainty in the program. The plan in early June was for him to take over for Lucas Poggiali, who was set to take the Sandusky athletic director job. But after Poggiali took his name out of the running after public backlash over the hiring process, Brown followed suit. Brown, though, ended up accepting the coaching job three weeks later. He led the Blue Streaks to a winning season and a playoff victory in Division II. After starting 0-3, Sandusky won seven of its last nine. With one season under his belt, Brown, 31, is ready for more. "For me, I understand more what I want out of the program. Love what Coach P was doing, but when I took over, I was kind of doing what he would've done," Brown said. "This year, I need to put my identity on the program. "I tell the kids we're not trying to cut corners; we gotta come right at people. I'm big on the process, make sure we practice hard and hit the weight room hard. The game should be easy once you do those things." Brown's task this fall won't be easy. Sandusky graduated a talented senior class and will take the field Friday against Amherst Steele with many unproven players. "I expect growth throughout the season," he said. "Anytime you're dealing with a lot of guys who don't have a lot of experience, they might think they know, but they really don't know until they get out there. Adversity is gonna hit at some point, and that's when you know what kind of team you have: Do they know how they respond? Are they gonna lay down? My expectation is we went through that all summer." Sandusky faces another tough non-conference slate. The Streaks will play Steele in Week 1 at Avon Lake because new turf is being installed at Steele. The Streaks' first eight opponents this year all made the playoffs last year. The first four — Steele, Fremont Ross, Lorain and Padua Franciscan — are all in divisions I, II or III. "We like to compete. Each week we want to make sure we're battle-tested," Brown said. "The goal is to make it to the playoffs, and when you make it you are truly battle tested. "Some years, we've played teams and had a running clock in the first half. As coaches, we questioned, 'Did that really help us?' We want to play quality teams and I believe we have that on our schedule." Oregon Clay — Sandusky's Week 1 opponent last year — dropped Sandusky due to scheduling issues. The 11th-seeded Streaks defeated sixth-seeded Clay 35-28 in the first round of the Division II playoffs last year. Sandusky's home opener is August 29 against Fremont Ross. The Streaks have lost to their rivals four straight years. The last two have been close: 21-14 last year and 21-15 in 2023. "Our kids are tired of losing to their rivals, but they understand you have to prove it," Brown said. "That's always a battle. You gotta come out and beat them." Making the playoffs is the goal of every team, but it will be tougher this year after the OHSAA cut the number of teams per region from 16 to 12. Brown is OK with that move. "When I got here (as an assistant), it was the top eight (per region). I was fine with that," Brown said. "I didn't care too much for 16 teams. I felt that may have been too much. I think the kids might be excited that it now mirrors college football. They can kind of see how college guys see themselves. It still creates opportunity, but it's not too much." The Blue Streaks will play their final season in the Sandusky Bay Conference this year. In 2026, the 10 schools in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake and Bay divisions will break off to form the Northern Ohio Conference. Sandusky went undefeated in the SBC Lake in 2017 — its first season in the conference. That is the Streaks' only SBC league title. Brown sees the impending realignment as motivation. "I've been told when the SBC started, we won it," Brown said. "I don't see any reason why we can't win it. We opened it, we can close it. That will be the mindset."