By Kyle Roberts
Ruston High quarterbacks coach Steven Ensminger, Jr., has accepted a job with Zachary High School’s coaching staff and will be heading south after his January 27, 2024, resignation was listed as part of the LPSB personnel report at the Tuesday session.
Ensminger will coach quarterbacks for Zachary as he has for Ruston High, where he has been on staff at Ruston since 2021, a little over a year after the terrible tragedy of losing his wife Carley in a small plane crash on the way to cover the 2019 Peach Bowl.
“After I lost my wife, (Ruston offensive coordinator) Earl Griffin called me and asked me to come coach here, and I said yes right away,” Ensminger said. “It was the best decision I could have ever made, because I didn’t leave my house for six to seven months. My mom literally hugged Earl and told him “thank you” for getting me out, because they were worried about me.
“This school, these kids, (head coach Jerrod) Baugh, and all of the coaches who were with me this whole time I’ve been here in Ruston, along with all the counselors, principal Dan Gressett, the assistant principals and the entire school, both athletes and non-athletes: they were all the best thing that could have ever happened for me after what I went through. I started life over, and when I did, Ruston and those kids and that school; that’s all I’ve known in this life after tragedy. And they were a blessing.”
Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh offered his thanks to Ensminger for his time on the staff.
“I personally appreciate everything Coach Ensminger did for our kids and our football program here through the years,” Baugh said. “He will definitely be missed but we all support him, his decision, and his future. We wish him the best.”
Ensminger briefly left for the Cedar Creek head coaching position during the offseason in 2022. After a mutual parting of ways, Ensminger returned to Ruston’s coaching staff for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
During Ensminger’s time on the Bearcat sideline, he helped guide a pair of quarterbacks to the back-to-back state title game appearances in Jaden Osborn and junior quarterback Josh Brantley, who was named the most outstanding player after leading Ruston to its first state title in over three decades back in December.
“While doing what I do best which is coach football, I was able to help those kids when they needed me,” Ensminger said. “And Josh Brantley is the main one. I really have sat here for 10 minutes and tried to come up with words to tell you what that kid means to me. I can’t do it. That relationship will always be there, and he knows that. And it’s gonna be hard for the next year but I told them, once a Bearcat, always a Bearcat.
“I will forever be grateful for Ruston High. I just want to tell everyone one that I love them and they will always be my family and my home away from home. I’m always here when anyone needs me. And I’ll see them in December.”
Baugh added that there is not currently a replacement for Ensminger’s position.
“As always, I will work to find the best coach available to join our team here at Ruston,” Baugh said.
