Aquinas finds its man in assistant

The day after Matt LeZotte found out Aquinas football coach Bill Tenore would be leaving for another school, he marched into principal Robert Larcher's office and made something clear.

LeZotte can't remember exactly what he said, but he wanted to make it immediately known his desire to be the next football coach at the school.

Aquinas made that official on Wednesday, when it introduced LeZotte as its new coach. LeZotte, an assistant coach at Aquinas the past two seasons, replaces Tenore, who is leaving for the head football position at his alma mater in Ohio.

LeZotte, 27, is a former standout quarterback at Westside High School and James Madison University. He will be the youngest public-school league coach in the area next fall.

"I have an unbelievably desire to be successful, and I want to teach that to all the players here," said LeZotte, who played quarterback on James Madison's 2004 Division I-AA national title team.

LeZotte was the only candidate to interview for the job, Larcher said.

"We had a special guy here; we kept it in-house," Larcher said.

Aquinas went 6-14 in Tenore's two seasons here. It last made the playoffs in 2005, the fall after LeZotte graduated from James Madison.

"I've known Matt a long time, real close to the family, and he has what it takes to get it done," said Westside coach Gerald Barnes, who coached LeZotte from 1996 to 1999. Westside will play host to Aquinas this fall.

Said assistant coach Mike Laney:"Matt will be dynamite. He's young, got the energy, and has this Pollyannaish way about him that makes everyone else positive."

Laney will remain on LeZotte's staff along with current assistant James Leonard. Tony LeZotte, Matt's younger brother, is playing football in France in hopes of generating highlight film he can distribute to NFL teams.

Matt LeZotte said if Tony doesn't catch on with an NFL team this summer, his brother will return to Aquinas to help coach the team for a second year.

"The selfish side of me wants him here, but the brother in me wants him to be successful and keep playing," Matt LeZotte said. "If that's the case, we'll meet up down the road at some point."

Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.