Pat Pearson worked his way up the football coaching ranks in Northeast Ohio.

Now he’s the head coach of his alma mater, Girard High School, after being in charge of the Indians’ defense the previous three seasons.

So how’s the first-year head coach handling his new responsibilities?

Girard is 6-2 overall, with losses against All American Conference division leaders Hubbard and Liberty.

The Indians control their own destiny over the final two weeks of the regular season and a playoff berth would be a satisfying accomplishment in Pearson’s first year.

Q. It’s your first year as the head coach. Has anything surprised you about the job that maybe you weren’t expecting?

A. The hardest thing being the first year is having to look at both sides of the ball. I have to take the whole team into the picture. Prior to, when I was defensive coordinator, I could just focus on that side of the ball. So I mean I wouldn’t say that’s a surprise, but maybe the hardest transition coaching wise has been trying to have eyes in both rooms to really look at the whole complete game — special teams, offense, defense. I think that’s been the biggest challenge for me personally.

Q. Do you think having eyes in each room, like you said, has helped you become a better head coach?

A. Absolutely. I think having a good feel for offense, defense and special teams, from a defensive perspective, maybe changed the way I call the game or how we set up things a little bit. I would say it’s been a big plus for me and helped me get a better understanding of what role the defense plays on this team this year and how it needs to run.

Q. Your team got off to a good start. What was the key to that start and how were you able to sustain it?

A. The growth of our team, and really putting it on our kids — on their character, on their leadership — has been important. We had a lot of shoes to fill from last year and a lot of it was from a leadership standpoint. So we’ve been constantly growing and we’re still in a state of growth. But the key to our success, and I’ve said it all along, has been our kids ability to come together as a group, believe in each other, they continue to grow and they find a way to win. Sometimes it’s not the prettiest way, but we’re finding ways to win games and that’s a credit to the kids and their character.

Q. The schedule down the stretch is difficult (Liberty last week, LaBrae, Jefferson). How do you keep pushing your team at the end of the year to finish strong?

A. We’ve talked about it. We said that we got ourselves in a situation with an opportunity to make October count. I credited the kids to get us into that position and now the test is what will we do with that position. We know it’s a three game season and we know what we have to do to continue to play. So we stay focused, we control what we can control and stay together as a family and those are the things that got us to this point. Now we just have to keep working with it.

Q. Girard has a very passionate fan base. You grew up in the program, so you know that. But now as the head coach, with a different perspective, is there anything that you maybe didn’t notice about the community before that you do now?

A. Being from Girard, and growing up there, I understand the fan base. I understand how loyal and supportive Girard fans are and how much they truly love their kids. The two points that highlighted that for me was halftime of Hubbard and halftime of Liberty. Both games we were trailing and weren’t playing our best football and the message I left with our kids at halftime was: When you walk out on that field, you’re going to continue to see those stands filled with Girard people that love you. And they were. How supportive they are is amazing. Our kids are really appreciative of it and it’s really just a special place to be.

- Kevin Connelly, The Vindicator