Akron North is set to start 2023 high school football season and hopes to finish this time

When DeMonte Powell walks into the coaches office at North High School, he often draws motivation from a name plate sitting atop a filing cabinet.

It reads, “Mr. Haslam.”

Sonil Haslam served as North football's head coach for six seasons before he died on Nov. 2, 2021, at the age of 46.

Years earlier, Haslam had given Powell his first job as an assistant on North's football staff. A 2011 North graduate, Powell has not forgotten the man who granted him entry into the coaching world.

“Without [Haslam] saying, 'All right, Powell, I believe in you,' it doesn't happen for me,” Powell said recently.

Akron North Vikings attempting comeback after their 2022 football season ended early

Now Powell is a first-year head coach attempting to revive North's football program after it suspended the 2022 season with two games left because of low player participation and a roster decimated by injuries. The Vikings went 1-7, including 0-3 in the City Series.

“It's been a huge inspiration for us to turn it around for [Haslam],” Powell said.

The task is daunting, but Powell is approaching it with unbridled optimism.

“I tell the kids every day, 'We're going to finish this season,'” Powell said. “That's my commitment to them.”

What's certain at this stage is the Vikings are expected to begin the 2023 season Aug. 18 at Coventry.

“It's full steam ahead right now,” Akron Public Schools athletic director Joe Vassalotti said.

As of Monday, North had 25 players, Powell said. He's always looking to add to the roster.

“Through attrition, typically a football team will lose five kids a year,” Vassalotti said. “... I hope they stay in the mid-to-upper 20s.”

How the Vikings football program is trying 'to bring back the hope to North' after disappointing end to last season

The Vikings opened last season with 28 players on their roster but had fewer than 15 available to play by mid-October, North athletic director Carrie Stewart said. As a result, North's season ended with matchups against Buchtel in Week 9 and Garfield in Week 10 remaining on its schedule.

“When we couldn't finish the season, we had a setback,” North senior running back and strong safety Elijah Gervins said. “A lot of people, they dropped their heads. They lost hope right there. They stopped believing. And that's something we wanted to change this year. We wanted to bring back the hope to North.”

Powell has been trying to provide a spark since the APS Board of Education approved him as the successor to former North coach Doug Miller in the spring. A former Muskingum University football player, Powell had coached track for eight seasons at North and one at Ravenna. He was a Vikings football assistant for at least half of Haslam's tenure. After one season at North, Miller is now an assistant coach at Wadsworth.

The top offseason priority of Powell, he said, has been changing the mindset of his players and “getting kids acclimated to team-first mentalities.”

Ensuring certain players attend practices regularly is an obstacle. Keeping some of them academically eligible is another.

Powell and his assistants have been tackling the challenges with energy.

"The coaching staff is committed and positive," Stewart said.

Vikings coach DeMonte Powell has players echoing his message about a new version of North football

Powell said he had roughly 35 players in May, but some of them were ruled ineligible in the summer. He and his assistant coaches have committed to communicate with teachers and track the grades of players throughout the upcoming school year.

“That's how it was for me when I went to Muskingum,” Powell said. “My assistant position coach was the person responsible for everything that I did, so he knew stuff that I didn't know that he knew.”

The minimum GPA for eligibility in APS is 2.0, but students who have a GPA of at least 1.4 are able to play sports if they attend mandatory study tables, Vassalotti said. Powell has set a goal for the team's cumulative GPA to reach at least 2.5.

“We aren't the same North that we've always been,” Vikings junior defensive end and tight end T.Y. Jones said.

Powell delivered the same message while addressing the other Akron Public Schools football coaches July 27 during City Series media day.

Other City Series football coaches want Akron North Vikings to get back on track

Garfield coach coach Kemp Boyd said during media day the other APS coaches realize Powell has "no easy task" at North.

"But know this, man: We're praying for you, and we're supporting you," Boyd added.

East coach Marques Hayes said he's “ecstatic to see” North prepared to field a team again.

“I'm glad that I can feel the confidence off Coach Powell when he says, 'Hey, it's a new North,'” said Hayes, the longest-tenured City Series football coach as he prepares to enter his 12th season at the helm of East. “The first step is truly believing that. If you're truly believing that, then that's going to help you set your culture.

“Coach Powell, you can tell he's going to be about those kids. I have every confidence in the world [and] I'm hoping that they'll be able to finish the season. The better all of our teams come to the table, that just strengthens our conference and our outlook on the conference.”

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The impact Haslam had on North is at the forefront of Hayes' thinking, too. One of Haslam's coaching stops before North was at East with Hayes.

Stabilizing North's program would be a powerful tribute.

“[Haslam is] definitely in our minds every day,” Powell said.

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New Akron North football coach determined to finish season