Fairfield starts 3rd year of football under Weaton

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield will begin the third year of Nate Weaton’s tenure as the head football coach of the Trojans with a number of talented athletes moving into leading roles with varsity experience.

Although the Trojans won just a single game in the last two years combined, there were lessons learned that makes the 2021 season full of potential.

“We saw our kids never give up, and more importantly, we could quantify the lessons they were learning,” Weaton said. “We were very happy with how tough we played Mt. Pleasant. Burlington was a game we should have won, but we didn’t finish — this lesson really stung our kids and made them better almost immediately.

Weaton became the head coach starting the 2019 season, replacing Matt Jones, who held the position for two years. Weaton spent two seasons as a varsity volunteer assistant in all three phases of the game and previous seasons in the Fairfield youth football circuit.

“Coach Weaton … is going to find innovative and creative ways to get things accomplished that benefit our students, school and community.” — Fairfield athletic director Jeff Courtright

“The thing that stood out about coach Weaton is that he understands the importance of building a culture that revolves around a positive mindset in which giving your best effort, working together, and being a good person is stressed and valued,” Fairfield athletic director Jeff Courtright said. “Coach Weaton is also a person who is going to find innovative and creative ways to get things accomplished that benefits our students, school and community.”

Innovation is a key ingredient for Weaton, who has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Iowa. He is the founder of Weaton Capital, which is a holding company for local manufacturing companies acquired since 2017, including the Creative Edge, Terrazzo Tek, Tool Keepers and Honeycorr brands.

Accomplishments for Weaton in sports included being named to all-district and all-metro teams in football and basketball playing for two hall-of-fame coaches at Cedar Falls High School — Pat Mitchell for football and Jerry Slykhuis for basketball.

He also ran track. Weaton’s uncle was a head coach at West Sioux in Hawarden, Mason City, Cedar Falls and Waterloo West.

Twenty-seven years after graduation, their influences are not lost on Weaton. Things like never micromanage, surround oneself with great people, no one is less important than the other guy, be accountable and make decisions based on one’s principles.

The Trojans haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2014. There is some excitement with the talent in this year’s upperclassmen. Weaton stresses intelligence in practice and play. His son Maxwell Weaton is the epitome of that and has excelled in every sport he plays since his freshman season.

“His experience, his dedication to the offseason process, and his natural leadership abilities, we believe, will serve him well as he enters his junior season,” coach Weaton said. “Most importantly, Max is fortunate to have a phenomenal group of very talented teammates. This combination is something every coaching staff wishes for each season.”

Considering Max Weaton’s abilities opens up possibilities so the Fairfield offense will be diverse.

“Our offense will never revolve around one player, no matter how good they are, as that doesn’t win football games. That said, when you have a talent like Max, you certainly try to get him in as many situations as possible so he contributes to the team’s success,” Weaton said.

Fairfield’s best bet to maximize players’ potential and take advantage of their abilities, is to make sure the team can lean on their experience and push them to get better each time they take the field.

That field has changed, and there are a lot of unknowns this year with the implementation of another class. “I think it’s too early to tell whether the extra class of football helps or hurts the sport in Iowa in general,” Weaton said.

Weaton’s instinct tells him that it will be good for the sport.

“I applaud the (Iowa High School Athletic Association) for implementing change and believe it will make all classes of football more competitive. Ultimately, that is and should be the goal.”

However, the Trojans cannot concern themselves or worry about how the changes help or hurt the Trojans, as it is out of their control. Weaton said Fairfield’s task is to prepare to be the best, no matter the class or circumstance.

Fairfield’s district opponents — Grinnell, Keokuk, Solon, Washington, West Burlington/Notre Dame — will be about the same this season. But the new class took Fort Madison and Mt. Pleasant away. They will be on the non-district schedule as will Ottumwa and Knoxville.

“Keeping those games on our schedule is really important,” Weaton said. “They are rivalry games, and they mean a lot to the players, coaches and communities. I would have hated to see these games off of the schedule for two years, no question.”

Weaton was glad to see Ottumwa back on the schedule in non-district play. He sees a tough game with Solon and Grinnell teams.

The Trojans dealt with things more serious than mere wins and losses last season. It affected many and the effect united the team.

“We were encouraged with their effort all season, and we were pleased with how the tough lessons they were experiencing brought them closer together,” Weaton said.

Weaton encountered a health situation when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in late August of last year. The resulting ordeal of treatment and recovery required him to be away from the team from mid-September 2020 to April 2021.

“I truly believe that you find out a lot about a person's true character when they are faced with adversity,” Courtright said. “Coach Weaton was definitely faced with some serious adversity last year during his battle with cancer. ”

Weaton said the Trojans adapted to his absence because assistant coaches stepped up as he stepped away. Weaton was impressed and appreciative of their commitment.

“A sincere thanks and appreciation needs to go to my coaching staff and their families,” Weaton said. “All of the coaches stepped up while I was away, most of them with spouses and small kids at home, and they still put in the time necessary to maintain our program culture. Words really can’t express what that meant to me and our players.”

The players had a close connection to the coach with his son on the team. “I think they handled it the way I would have expected them to — with grace, humility and resilience,” Weaton said.

Not much good can come from a cancer situation. However, as a coach, Weaton’s diagnosis allows him the opportunity to put words into action.

“I can only hope, through my journey, that I set a positive and impactful example for the young men in our program,” Weaton said.

“The way he attacked this battle with a positive attitude, relentless effort, and gratefulness was most definitely an inspiration to me and many,” Courtright said. “During this battle, he modeled to his athletes many of the same things he stresses to his team during football practices and games.”

In sports there are always times when the team is down or players are not executing to potential. Weaton often talks about facing adversity and challenges Fairfield players to face it head on.

“How will we react to it? Will we dig deep and fight it? Will we have an attack mindset, or will we run from it,” Weaton said.

If the Trojans follow their head football coach’s example, any and all adversity will be confronted and defeated.

“Through treatment and surgery, I am happy to report that I am cancer free and the future looks very good,” Weaton said. “Something I do not take for granted, as that is not always the news cancer patients receive.”

Community support was important to Weaton and his family at the time of his health situation.

“I couldn’t have done it without my faith in God, the love and support of my wife, kids, family and closest of friends,” Weaton said. “The outpouring of community support was overwhelming, and something that I will be forever grateful for.”

In fact, the community support was obvious in the T-shirts that were seen around Fairfield. The T-shirts said “No one fights alone” on the front, and “We got your back Coach” on the reverse side.