{"id":268255,"date":"2025-08-07T05:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/268255\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T05:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:46:10","slug":"2025-prep-football-previews-simon-kentons-new-head-coach-brings-new-approach-to-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/268255\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Prep Football Previews: Simon Kenton’s new head coach brings new approach to program"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter<\/p>\n

First-year Simon Kenton football coach Joe Wynn feels like he never really left Northern Kentucky after playing football at Dayton High and becoming head coach at Newport for three seasons before his last four years at Mason County.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason Wynn, whose Mason County teams racked up a 36-14 record, won a pair of district titles and earned a spot in the 2022 state semifinals, is so at home here. He never actually left.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Simon Kenton coach Joe Wynn<\/p>\n

With the way interest rates skyrocketed when he took the Mason County job, \u201cIt just didn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d he said, to buy a home then, not for someone on a teacher\u2019s salary. So he commuted back and forth to Maysville every day.<\/p>\n

Now his commute to school from his new home in Independence is \u201cjust a couple of minutes.\u201d But the excitement for winning football that his program brought to Maysville is what he plans for southern Kenton County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to put a good product on the field,\u201d Wynn says. \u201cThe kids are showing up every day and working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so is the football staff. \u201cWe had a great game-day environment there with fireworks and the middle-school kids at games,\u201d Wynn says of what they hope to bring to Simon Kenton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a marquee-type job, everything is there from ability to compete to community support\u201d for football. \u201cWe want Independence shut down\u201d on Friday nights, Wynn says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Simon Kenton senior Grayson Harris was the state\u2019s leading pass receiver last season averaging 124 yards per game. (Photo by Marc Figgins)<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ll be competing differently. No more exclusive two-platoon for the Class 6A program. \u201cOur best players need to be on the field,\u201d Wynn says.<\/p>\n

Of the top nine players for this fall, he lists seven of them on both offense and defense. \u201cA lot of things we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re doing for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, there are no \u201creturning starters\u201d listed. This Pioneers\u2019 team is a \u201cnew\u201d program.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone will earn a spot,\u201d Wynn says as Simon Kenton attempts to bounce back from a 4-7 season last fall in what was the resigned Roy Lucas\u2019 fourth season as head coach.<\/p>\n

Although there\u2019s one player, wide receiver\/defensive back Grayson Harris, Kentucky\u2019s No. 1 receiver in 2024 with 89 receptions for 1,368 yards and 13 TD, who the Louisville Courier-Journal lists as one of 10 players in the running for Kentucky\u2019s Mr. Football.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a stud,\u201d Wynn says of the 6-foot, 185-pound senior with 4.5 speed in the 40. \u201cAnd he\u2019s an all-state punter. We\u2019re going to see him in a lot of places. He\u2019s going to play multiple spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Brayden Schoborg will be a two-way starter at linebacker and tight end.<\/p>\n

Now the key is to find a quarterback to get him the ball. \u201cWe\u2019ll be young in spots,\u201d Wynn says, \u201cwe need to get experience and find a quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

The battle to succeed the graduated Brady Lee, Class 6A\u2019s top passer, is between sophomore Grant Webb and senior Caleb French (who returned to football this year). \u201cWe\u2019re going to let that play out and see who can lead us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With \u201cplaying guys both ways for the first time in a long time, reps will be crucial for us to grow and be where we need to be come district time,\u201d Wynn says of a schedule that opens with a home game against cross-county rival Dixie Heights, Friday, Aug. 22.<\/p>\n

Two-way seniors Wynn expects to lead his team start with middle linebacker Brayden Schoborg (6-3, 230) also a tight end and hearing from Ivy League schools, along with tight end\/linebacker Tucker Ober. Another TE\/LB is junior Kyle King.<\/p>\n

Jordan Pendleton is a senior running back\/wide receiver\/safety who \u201cwill be a two-way starter,\u201d Wynn says while senior Eli Mullins is looking \u201creally good at free safety.\u201d Senior Landon Brown is also penned in as a RB\/S with senior Paul Snyder a two-way lineman, another player Wynn classifies as \u201ca stud.\u201d<\/p>\n

SIMON KENTON PIONEERS
2024 SEASON:\u00a0\u00a04-7 record, lost in first round of Class 6A playoffs.
STARTERS RETURNING: Not listed.
DISTRICT:\u00a0\u00a0Class 6A, District 6 with Campbell County, Great Crossing, Ryle.
HEAD COACH:\u00a0\u00a0Joe Wynn (54-27 in seven seasons, 18-13 at Newport, 36-14 at Mason County.<\/p>\n

2025 SCHEDULE
Aug. 22 \u2013 DIXIE HEIGHTS, 7 p.m.
Aug. 29 \u2013 at Western Brown (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Sept. 5 \u2013 COVINGTON CATHOLIC, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12 \u2013 at Beechwood, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 19 \u2013 at Conner, 7 p.m.
Sept. 26 \u2013 at Lexington Bryan Station, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 10 \u2013 GREAT CROSSING, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 17 \u2013 CAMPBELL COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Oct. 24 \u2013 at Ryle, 7 p.m.
Oct. 31 \u2013 COOPER, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dan WeberNKyTribune sports reporter First-year Simon Kenton football coach Joe Wynn feels like he never really left…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[50515,52289,7,52290,52291,50521,52292,52293],"class_list":{"0":"post-268255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-2025-prep-football-previews","9":"tag-brayden-schoborg","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-grayson-harris","12":"tag-joe-wynn","13":"tag-kentucky-class-6a-football","14":"tag-simon-kenton-coach-joe-wynn","15":"tag-simon-kenton-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114985906051950267","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}