Stewart to lead Patterson football program permanently

New Patterson High School football coach Ryan Stewart sees a familiar route back to the Lumberjacks’ winning ways, which includes taking a left at the weight room.
“Patterson was bigger and stronger than most teams in the past, and that was the foundation of the program’s success, but that changed in recent years,” Stewart said. “Other schools started hitting the weights, and we became a bit complacent. There will be no shortcuts in the weight room going forward.”
The longtime college assistant coach opened up the weight room to former Patterson players playing college football during the holiday break.
“Our kids watched how hard former standouts Nehemiah Augustus, Trevon Stewart, Sirbatian Charles and Mykel Jones work and realized how much they have to step up if they want to be like those guys,” Stewart said.
Stewart is Patterson’s third head coach in four years. First-year coach Marvin Dantzler resigned in November after a 3-8 finish.
Dantzler, a Louisiana native, came to Patterson after four years as head coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In his lone season at the helm, Patterson started 0-6 before winning three out four games to qualify for the Class 3A playoffs.
“It (his resignation) didn’t have anything to do with wins and losses,” Dantzler said after he resigned. “We made the playoffs despite what the record was. We played a tough schedule, and we had our chances to beat the No. 5-seed (Marksville). Those kids grew so much by the end of the season.”
Patterson lost 51-33 in the first-round of the playoffs, but both Patterson and Dantzler extended long consecutive playoff appearance streaks.
“I actually interviewed for the job when Dantzler got the job,” Stewart said. “I didn’t get the job and rightfully so, because Coach Dantzler had several more years as a head coach. There were no hard feelings, and we worked well together. When he left, I thought maybe I had another shot at it, but nothing was told to me.”
Stewart was named interim coach following Dantzler’s resignation, and Patterson opened another coaching search.
“They put me in the interim job, and I had to jump through all the hoops through the interviews,” he said. “The process was a lot more involved this time. When I interviewed the first time, it was just me and (Patterson Principal Rachael) Sanders. But, this time we had a committee with community members involved. When it all boiled down and she (Sanders) offered me the job, I was excited. I was just as excited as when I was asked to be the defensive coordinator last season.”
Stewart quietly started to add coaches and implement his off season strength program.
“Ryan stepped in as interim coach, and he went through the hiring process again just like any new coach would,” Sanders said. “I think the coaches and players were hopeful Ryan would get the job, and after the process, it was clear that he was our guy.”
Stewart came to Patterson from DeRidder High School where he spent four years, including one season as defensive coordinator. Before that, he worked as a college assistant.
“I was chasing Les Miles’ old job, but that dream ended, and I decided to coach high schools because my wife and I wanted to start a family,” Stewart said.
In his first year in charge of the Lumberjack football program, Stewart’s team will tackle another tough non-district schedule.
“We will play 4- and 5A teams again, but with Kaplan, Erath going deep in the playoffs and Berwick coming up big time, we need to be battle tested for district play,” Stewart said. “We are going to work as hard as we can to get this program back to its winning tradition.”