SANFORD, Fla. - A man powerwashes mats outside of Seminole High School, washing away more than 20 years of history. The dirt in the nearby gym collecting on the floor serves as a reminder of what once was. With the efforts to clean, there's proof there’s a revitalization going on, and Eric Lodge can’t wait to lead the way.

• Don Stark left Seminole for a job in Georgia
• Lodge coached with Stark across University High School and Seminole High School
• This is Lodge's first head coaching gig

“We’ve had a first class football program for the last four years, with not a first class weight room," the 30-year-old said. "So we want to give those kids a first class place to work in too.”

Renovating the weightroom is the first initiative for Seminole football’s new head coach. He followed former coach Don Stark around for the better part of 10 years between Seminole and University High School, but now he's ready to take charge.

"And when we came together, I told myself, 'hey if you leave again and I don’t go with you, I’m going to be ready to step in,'" Lodge said. "It’s a next man up mentality. And you know what? It’s bigger than one man. And when he left, the machine just kept on rolling. I just kind of stepped in."

In fact, Lodge had been preparing his whole life for this promotion he was a coaching major in college at UCF, and even at a young, the former defensive coordinator thinks he can connect with players the way his former coaches once connected with him, leading a team that's gone 41-6 since 2016 to similar success.

"The biggest people in my life as far as inspiring me to do good things or live life the right way, be a good man, those were football coaches," he said. "We tell the guys, 'we don’t want to coach you for four years. We want to coach you for 40 years. So if you’re through the program, if you go on, as you go on through life, we’re still here for you.'"

So as players sit on the sidelines at home, he and his staff are here showing they’re ready to invest in Seminole.

"It says that there’s an event that happened. And we can’t control the events in our lives. But we can control our responses," assistant head coach Woody Cox said. "And those responses dictate the outcomes. By controlling our responses, by doing the things that we can do. Controlling what we can control. We can change our outcomes and prove our outcomes."

Outcomes that will likely turn to wins, not just on the field, but in life as well.

"These guys, they know me, even though I’m a new head coach," Lodge said. "I’ve been here for four years. They know I care about them. And I’m fighting for them. And we’re going to give them a space that really rewards them for their efforts on the field."