John Ely worked in the admissions office as a student at Baker University and would often give football recruits tours, which would often include watching film with the Baker coaches that Ely would sit in on.

Eventually, he asked a question.

“I started asking questions, and next thing you know, I’m sitting in (former Baker head coach Jason) Thoren’s office, and we’re just watching film together for a couple hours,” Ely said. “And I don’t even know if they knew that I was there at first.”

This wasn’t some random blind luck — Ely had always been drawn to coaching football. From drawing up plays in the backyard as a kid to playing at Lawrence High as a high schooler, Ely always wanted to coach the sport.

Ely didn’t stay on the Baker staff long before coming back to Lawrence, where he has worked his way up to being the defensive coordinator the last two years. Throughout his time as an assistant coach, Ely has been taking notes on things he likes that coaches do and things he’d do differently were he a head coach. Now, at 25, he’s the head guy of a program.

Ely is taking over as the head coach of Central High in Springfield, Mo., a school that will provide a bit of a unique challenge. Central canceled its most recent football season after not having enough players try out for the team. But Ely saw support for the program both within the administration of the school and in the local community with business, churches and more.

“We’ve had a couple meetings as a staff now, and I was able to go down and meet with parents and students and some of the families, and there’s a lot of excitement about it among the kids that want to play football,” Ely said.

Ely’s task will be finding kids at the school that aren’t sold on football but can contribute to the program. By building a positive culture and being honest with parents and students, Ely believes that the students that are on the fence about joining will sign up.

At 25 years old, Ely is young for a head coach, something that he believes has some advantages and disadvantages. His age can help him relate to players, which can be a helpful tool in recruiting students to join the team, but it also means he doesn’t have as many years of experience as other coaches. That’s where his coaching staff will be critical in helping him build out the program.

“I’m hoping to kind of leverage that (youth) and then utilize some of the deeper community ties and more experience with some other guys on the staff to help balance that out,” Ely said. “I think it’s important when you have one coach that has a skill set that you have another coach on staff that complements that. And we do have that.”

Ely will have eight coaches with him at Central High, seven of which have been hired. Ely is still looking for a defensive coordinator, which would allow him to focus on all sides of the football operations as a head coach and “float” to different areas of practice. Ely said that if he does not find a defensive coordinator, he will be calling defensive plays and work as the de facto defensive coordinator for his first year.

Building a program at Central High will be a challenge. The lack of a roster affects things like the number of coaches Ely is allowed to hire for his staff. But it’s a challenge he’s excited and ready for what’s to come, with spring practices and workouts quickly approaching. From growing up idolizing longtime Kansas State coach Bill Snyder to leading the defense at his alma mater, Ely now gets to shape a team in his vision.

“I’m sure that once we get into spring ball, especially, it’ll probably hit me a little bit more once we get on the field,” Ely said.