Staff photo / Dan Hiner Valley Christian football coach Aaron Agresta, center, directs his linebackers during a practice behind South High School in Youngstown on Aug. 4.

Time is a flat circle, especially in the case of Valley Christian head coach Aaron Agresta.

Back in 2004, he was one of the first to suit up for Youngstown Christian, playing quarterback for the first football squad in school history. He learned what it takes to be a part of a program that’s in its infancy.

Fast forward nearly 20 years, the Eagles have booked several trips to the postseason, with Agresta on staff serving as the defensive coordinator the last five seasons under Andy Hake and Jomont Ware. While Agresta has been a head coach before in girl’s basketball, having his first football head coaching gig — especially as one of the founding fathers of the program — is a unique opportunity not lost on the Youngstown Christian alum.

“It’s 100 percent a full circle moment. I was here before they had football,” Agresta said. “I started here in seventh grade, and we didn’t have football until I was a junior, and I had only played one year of pee wee football. To start from knowing nothing, to not really playing football until my junior year. In the third game of the junior year, I dislocated my hip, so I was out the entire rest of the season.

“The program has grown a lot since then, a lot of successful coaches and seasons, and I’m just looking to continue that.”

He helped guide the Eagles to a 6-4 record in his senior campaign in 2005, but the lessons learned in the beginning are ones that can be passed on.

“Football to me, is the greatest game of all time, and I love all sports. It’s the greatest game because there’s so much that’s involved in being a team and having to be good. It brings out character,” Agresta said. “You’re dealing with a lot of adversity and a lot of physicality. If one guy makes a mistake out of the 11, everything can fall apart, so all 11 guys have to be working together and doing their job.

“That teaches you so much as a young person, as a coach as well, to be able to handle your emotions and deal with adversity. In order to be successful, you have to be responsible and it just builds character.”

Being a first-year head coach, there’s always building blocks to instill.

“I want to be a program that’s known for our character and our culture before our competitiveness on the field, as far as talent goes,” Agresta said. “Just trying to instill that in this offseason in the weight room. We’ve had really good participation and buy-in from the guys.”

Being a member in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference, their fall slate includes bouts with Southern, East Palestine, United, Columbiana, Lisbon, Wellsville and Leetonia, but a trio of non-conference contests versus Malvern, St. Thomas Aquinas and Pymatuning Valley will help the Eagles tune themselves for EOAC action.

“Every team, regardless of talent, is really well coached and really competitive, and we’re going to have to prepare week in and week out, take it one week at a time.” Agresta said.

OFFENSE

Senior quarterback Deion Miller, with a full season under his belt, is ready to take the next step. Tossing for over 1,300 yards and scoring 23 total touchdowns, the Eagles will look to potentially throw the ball around a bit more following the graduation of 2,000 yard rusher JaSean Lindsey.

“He’s gotten a lot bigger and a lot stronger in the weight room, has really good arm strength, he can run and throw. He’s going to kind of lead our team on the offensive end,” Agresta said. “Anytime you have the full reins of the offense, that experience gives you a lot of confidence. Confidence, he’s not short of that. Even though I wasn’t calling the offense last year, we’re doing a lot of the same concepts, a lot of the same scheme and terminology, so me and him working together will make it a lot easier for him to roll into this next season.”

Catching passes from Miller will include a platoon of senior Jerrel Miles (15 receptions, 434 yards), senior Geordan Traylor (14 receptions, 280 yards), junior London Cooper and sophomore King Swiggett.

Over at the running back position, returning rotational piece junior Lyndale Riley will see plenty of touches, and fellow junior Jeffrey Lampkin adds experience as well.

On the offensive line, sophomore Jeremiah Bankston is the lone returner from a previously veteran position group.

Previous rotational pieces are hungry for their opportunity to see the lion’s share of the action.

“Anytime that you have a guy that you can pencil in and just throw in a position and you know he has talent and ability and you don’t have to teach him from the ground up, it’s huge,” Agresta said. “With JaSean there (last fall), you can’t give a lot of those guys reps that they could have had. Lyndale is a great back, and anytime we did give him carries last year, he averaged 12 yards a carry.”

DEFENSE

Similar to the offensive line, the defensive line only has one returning starter with Lampkin.

There’s plenty of experience at linebacker, however. Riley is a voice on defense as the outside backer, a position he’s started at since his freshman season. Junior Brooklyn Lott will add into the defensive line and linebacker mix as well.

Miles returns as the free safety, with Swiggett and Traylor going on the corners. Junior Kevon Moreland will likely be penciled in at the other safety role, while also taking reps on offense.

“We had a huge freshman and sophomore class last year, so those guys are going to be sophomores and juniors, and that’s going to be the core of our team,” Agresta said. “Not only (have they) been on the field, but a lot of them that are going to be on the field were here last year and learned and got reps.

“We lost a lot of seniors, but at the same time we have a lot of young talent that has a lot of potential and is ready to get on the field.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

Sophomore William Capeles aims to continue kicking duties for the Eagles on field goals and point-after attempts. Miller previously punted, and will look to continue to do so, giving Valley Christian the chance to develop some trickery on fourth-down situations.

Returning kicks could be any combination of Miles, Lampkin, Traylor or Riley.