WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Just days after stepping down as Jefferson City's football head coach, Ted LePage had a feeling.
After 17 seasons as a head coach, including the past 12 with the Jays, something was drawing him back to where it all began, that his next move might be a familiar one.
That move was made official Tuesday morning, when LePage was introduced as Blair Oaks' football head coach, returning to the position he held from 2001-05 when he began his head-coaching career.
"As I told the players, journeys take you in a different direction," LePage said at Tuesday morning's press conference at the Blair Oaks High School library. "I got out of football once before, and it led me back to Blair Oaks.
"This time, it led me back again."
LePage spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Jays before taking a few years off and then becoming head coach at Blair Oaks. This time around, he only needed a few months off before coming back to the Falcons.
"After I got to see the interview with Jon Gruden, who went back to the Raiders, he said, 'How many times do you ever get an opportunity to go back where you started?' At that point in time, that really touched me," LePage said.
"This was a special place to me and my family, and the opportunity to get to go back somewhere where you started something - and hopefully finish it now - I can't put it into words."
LePage stepped down as the Jays' head coach in December, and a little more than a month later, Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker was introduced as Jefferson City's next football coach after spending three seasons with the Falcons, compiling a 37-3 record.Since LePage left Blair Oaks after the 2005 season, the Falcons have won nine district titles and eight Tri-County Conference championships in 12 seasons, following up his 2004 state championship with another title in 2006 under head coach Brad Drehle.
"One of the reasons the expectations are so high is the direct result of this man," Blair Oaks superintendent Jim Jones said of LePage, who posted a 48-13 record in his five seasons with the Falcons. "He dared to take on the leadership of our football program when there were no expectations. Since that time, the expectations have never lowered. Now he dares to take on the leadership of that same football program, but this time, full of expectations."
Jones said Blair Oaks had 20 applicants for the head-coaching position and four candidates were interviewed last week.
"Two of the players were also in on the interview process," LePage said. "I was very impressed with their awareness. As I've told many of the administrators I've met with at Blair Oaks, just the intelligence level and the maturity level, that's been impressive to me."
In addition to becoming head coach, LePage will also teach physical education at Blair Oaks High School.
Following Tuesday's announcement, LePage met with Blair Oaks' assistant coaches to get the process started on forming a coaching staff for the 2018 season.
"We've got a long list of people that I'm going to start getting in touch with," LePage said.
In his 12 seasons at Jefferson City, LePage compiled an 86-46 record - including three district championships and two state semifinal appearances in 2006 and '08 - to put his overall record at 134-59. The Jays finished 3-7 in 2017, his only losing season with the program.
When he left Blair Oaks to go to Jefferson City, LePage said he didn't look back. As he makes the transition back to the Falcons, he added he doesn't plan to look back on the Jays either.
"One thing my mom and dad never did is they never looked back," he said. "I've been raised that way from Day 1. You do something, you do it as hard as you can, you're proud of it, you hold your head up high and you move to the next goal."
LePage inherits a Blair Oaks team that posted a 13-1 record in 2017, advancing to the Class 3 semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Maryville. The Falcons have won 29 consecutive regular-season games dating back to Week 7 of the 2014 season.
Blair Oaks returns three all-state players on offense (quarterback Nolan Hair and wide receivers Ben Thomas and Braydan Pritchett) and two all-state honorees on defense (Thomas and Pritchett, both at defensive back).
LePage was introduced to the players at 8 a.m. Tuesday, then had a separate meeting with the returning seniors before the press conference.
"We're going to let the seniors decide where they want to go," LePage said. "The last several years, I've sat down with the seniors and let them set the goals and expectations."
In regard to style of play, LePage emphasized the Falcons are going to continue to play to their strengths.
"In 1993, I was part of a state championship team that threw for 323 yards the entire season," he said. "Three years ago, I was on a team that was 9-2 and we scored 43 points a game - led Class 6 in scoring - and threw it every down. We can do anything we want."
Blair Oaks will open the 2018 season with a rematch against Maryville.
Until that day in August arrives, LePage said he's ready to hit the ground running this morning in the weight room.
"They said they start weights (in the) morning at 5:50," he said. "I'll probably be here way before that. I just can't wait to go."