Columbus North head football coach Logan Haston claps his hands as players complete warmup drills during practice at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Logan Haston has spent practically his entire playing and coaching career on the offensive side of the football, so once in awhile, he has to remind himself that as a head coach, he’s in charge of the defense and special teams, as well.
The first-time head coach has learned that lesson since taking over the Columbus North program June 1.
“It’s been unique,” Haston said. “There’s been times where I’ve had to catch myself. I get really immersed into the offense down here, and I’m like, ‘Oh wait, I have to get to another station.’ I have a little bit more responsibility now, and fortunately, I’ve been surrounded by really good coaches. They know how things are run. They know Columbus North football, and they’ve kind of helped guide me in the right direction.”
Those coaches include longtime Bull Dog assistants Aaron Karrer, Jason Perry and Harvey Scruggs. One of the newer assistants, former North linebacker Luke Teague, takes over as the defensive coordinator.
“He has done a phenomenal job,” Haston said. “He coaches passionately. He knows his X’s-and-O’s very well, so it’s been a good hire for sure.”
Haston, a former Avon High School and Manchester University quarterback and Fishers High School offensive coordinator, is replacing Tim Bless, who had spent the past 22 years on the Bull Dog sidelines before resigning in May.
“I came into a great situation,” Haston said. “With coach Bless, those guys have been well coached and disciplined. It’s been easy in that regard, and they’ve kind of adapted to my coaching style. It’s been a learning curve for them, and they’ve adapted pretty well.”
Like Bless, Haston’s coaching style is mostly positive.
“I’m not a yeller and screamer kind of guy,” Haston said. “I’m very positive, encouraging, supporting. Obviously, we want to hold guys accountable. When they’re not doing something right, we have to get on them. But definitely, you just want to love guys up. I think that’s how you build relationships, and they respect you and they trust you.”
Teams are permitted 12 padded practices in the summer. The final one of those for the Bull Dogs was in Thursday’s scrimmage at Whiteland.
Haston likes what he has seen from his players through the summer practice sessions.
“They’re really good kids,” Haston said. “They’re focused, they’re on time, their attention to detail is really good. They want to be coached. They ask good questions. They get mad at themselves when they mess up, and those are things you want to see from guys. So they’re very self-motivated in that regard. There’s not a lot that we as coaches have to do to motivate them. They’ve been very well coached and just fun to be around.”
Haston and his family spent most of the moratrorium week moving out of their old house in Fishers and settled in their new home in Columbus early last week.
“It’s been phenomenal,” Haston said. “It’s definitely slowed down for me a little bit. The first month, my head was kind of spinning. It’s been really nice to kind of get everybody on the same page, showing coaches and players how I want drills run and what tempo and pace we should practice it.”
