Fort Vancouver football preview: Ex-NFL QB Neil Lomax making a difference by first winning over players
The Columbian
Published: August 28, 2018, 6:58pm
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New Fort Vancouver football coach Neil Lomax talks to players on the first day of practice on Aug. 15. More than 50 players turned out for the team, many more than in the previous year. Meg Wochnick/The Columbian
Jonavin Salavea is new to Fort Vancouver, but the senior has the next generation of Trappers in mind as one of the reasons why he turned out for football.
“We’re trying to help the future,” said Salavea, a lineman and transfer from Portland’s Jefferson High School.
Helping the future — and present — is why first-year coach Neil Lomax came to Fort. Hired in March, the ex-Portland State quarterback who played nine NFL seasons is the program’s second consecutive coach to play professional football, following Steve Broussard. And while Lomax might have quarterbacked at football’s top level, he isn’t relying on a stacked resume to build a program that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2004.
He and the coaching staff are going beyond Xs and Os. That’s what has gained credibility among players.
“They want us to succeed on and off the field and do the best we can,” said junior Isaac Martinez. “They want us to be a good football team, but they also want the best for us.”
Fort is Lomax’s first head-coaching job. He previously assisted Columbia River head coach Christian Swain when Swain coached at Portland’s Roosevelt High from 2009-15.
But Lomax is far from talking about wins and losses — not yet, anyway — on the football field.
Fort went 0-9 in 2017, but what Lomax is stressing in the victory department is winning over the players.
“We’re trying to win over their hearts and trust me, trust the coaches, and trust this process,” Lomax said. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of trust in these kids’ lives.”
So far, it’s worked. Turnout numbers continue to climb and more than 50 players out for the team.
That’s only part of the reason why Martinez and the Trappers already feel like winners in a program that has a different vibe to it.
