Troy Athens has their new Football Coach.

Written Tuesday February 27th at 10:00 AM

The Troy Athens Red Hawks have found their new football coach and it ended up being in it's own building.

The Red Hawks named Billy Keenest on Monday replacing Josh Heppner after he spent eight seasons at Troy Athens.

Heppner will be an assistant this upcoming season at Adams.

Keenest coached at Berkley last season posting a 1-8 record but there is some advantages he has coming back to the place where he was the offensive coordinator from 2010-2016. Keenest also teaches at Troy Athens which is another advantage.

Keenest knows the White very well coaching at Berkley last season. It will be the division where the Red Hawks will be in this season.

Keenest whom played quarterback at Oxford under coach Bud Rowley as a player will have to fix some issues that has plagued Troy Athens. Participation has hurt the football program despite having a huge enrollment (2,026 students.) The Red Hawks did not field a Junior Varsity team so he'll have to address that. On the Varsity level, he takes over a team that has gone 12-42 since 2011 and last season had a very rough year going 0-9 in the always brutal Red. The defense was abysmal allowing 351 points and the offense only scored 112 points last season.

Keenest will have lineman David Demon coming back but they have some questions at the skill positions after losing a ton of experience last season.

Keenest's former school Berkley will now have their third coach in three years. The Bears will go down to the Blue this season. Berkley could keep the job in house or have to search outside the box for their new coach.

Troy Athens opens up the season with Seaholm in week one. They still have games against Lake Orion, Groves, Oak Park, Harrison, Stoney Creek, and Rochester on the horizon.

The Red Hawks have to address their rivalry with Troy. The Colts are 8-5 since 2005 against Troy Athens including last season in which Troy beat the Red Hawks 20-19 to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The game this season will be at Troy.

Troy Athens hasn't made the playoffs since 2011 where they lost in triple overtime to Romeo 34-31.

It will be Keenest's job to get them back to the postseason.

Thoughts.

This move didn't surprise me, I had a feeling it would be Keenest getting the job over at Troy Athens. He teaches at Troy Athens and was the team's offensive coordinator under Heppner. Keenest knows the Red Hawks troubles in and out. The White is very manageable for Troy Athens but they are going to have to address some things if they want to restore the glory from a few years ago.

I feel bad for Berkley though. The Bears are going to have their third coach in three years. I think a perfect coach for them will be John Erstine from Harrison would be a perfect fit for them.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.