There have been some faculty changes, teachers moving to different halls and teachers moving to different roles. Through these changes we have welcomed a lot of new faces. But with the case of the new Football coach, he is a Kansas native.
”I was born in Emporia. We moved out here when I was five years old and lived here all the way through when I graduated from Holcomb high school, but I went to Garden City Schools all the way through sixth grade,” Joe Price, football coach, said.
Perhaps a familiar face to some, Price has had many years of football playing experience that drive his love for the game.
“After high school I played two years of football at the community here in Garden City. I started two years on the offensive line, and then from there I went and played at East Central Oklahoma,” Price said.
After his time playing football he started his career coaching.
“I was a graduate assistant football coach at East Central after I got done playing, then we moved back here for 10 years,” Price said
He came back from Oklahoma and coached across southwest Kansas.
“I coached at the college and then I was the head coach at south grey for a couple years and then I worked at Liberal as well,” Price said
After his experience in southwest Kansas he went back to Oklahoma for a time. The opportunity to coach for the Garden City Buffalos came up.
”I was able to come through a few times and just kind of watch and see how everybody operated and basically be an observer a couple times, before I took the job,” Price said.
He has already had an impact on the players, improving the community of the team.
“Not only that there is people showing up but I also feel like there is also people wanting to change this for the younger guys,” Fabian Escobedo, Public Service senior, said.
A stronger sense of community has also caused players to put more effort into the team.
“I try to come, at 6:20, we start at 6:50. I try to come as early as possible, and I feel like I want to work harder,” Manuel Hernandez, Arts & Comm. senior, said.
Along with this he also has impacted the culture of our football team.
“I feel like coach price has changed the whole environment and there’s actually a culture here,” Escobedo said.
His goals are to create a strong and hardworking team that can compete with other 6A schools.
“We want to get to the point where we’re able to compete with the Manhattans and the Derbies and those people we are viewed in the same way that those guys are viewed. That comes through hard work, discipline, you know selflessness, believing in what you are doing,” Price said.
Price wants to inspire his players to focus on completing something rather than giving up halfway through.
“It doesn’t matter what happened to you in the past, it matters what you’re going to do today. It matters how you’re going to plan to do things tomorrow,” Price said.
