High School Football Spotlight: Mike Goodpaster, Head Football Coach Cincinnati Landmark Christian

1- Can you tell the readers just how special it is for you to coach Landmark Christian?

Why is Landmark Christian special? To me it is the people at Landmark and what they represent. I have coached football since 1991 at all levels and what makes Landmark Special is a lot of people talk about brotherhood or a family atmosphere and that is not just lip service at Landmark. I started coaching as an assistant at Landmark 6 years ago because I decided to homeschool my sons and they needed a place to play football. I never had any intention of ever being the head coach, my intentions at the start were to watch and coach my kids through high school and then go back to coaching professional football or coaching a public school. But I saw a chance when the job was offered to me to coach at a place that fit exactly what I wanted at this point in my life. Landmark is a faith-based program and they represent much more than just a town or each other, we play for a much higher purpose, that’s what I want.

2- Now that you guys are getting so much better is it getting harder to get your schedule filled?

To an extent we used to have a lot of public schools that would play us just to get a win, we were basically everybody’s senior night, not so much anymore. We are still looking for a week one and week three game for the upcoming season.

3- What was it like coaching arena football?

Coaching arena football was a blast, you are coaching guys that played D 1 football in College and an occasional player who played in the NFL and the level of play is high. I learned a lot from coaching at that level and it opened some doors for me and I will be forever grateful for a lot of the people I met along the way in arena football.

4- Is there one particular area school that you would like to get on your schedule?

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy- We played them last year early in the season and they embarrassed us in the first quarter and we would love to get a chance to show them that we are better than that. They have an outstanding program and Coach and I have a ton of respect for them.

5- A lot of fans are not that familiar with Landmark Christian. Could you let them know where all you get your players from?

We get our players mostly from Homeschool kids, but public and private school kids are allowed to play and we usually have at least a handful every season.

6- I covered you guys twice this past season. You won one and dropped a close one. In both games, I noticed how hard and clean your team plays. As a coach how important is it to see your team play with such passion and keep it as clean as they do?

Extremely important, I am very competitive but I want to win the right way, remember we play for a much higher power and we want to honor God in all we do on and off the field. We had zero unsportsmanlike penalties this year and just two personal fouls. It’s most important to me at the end of the day that the team we just played respects our young men and the way we conduct ourselves on the field.

7- Do you think schools like Landmark Christian and other schools like yours should be sanctioned by the O.H.S.A.A. so that you can play in the Ohio playoffs?

No, we have no need to play in the OHSAA playoffs and it would not be right if we did. Our roster in the past has had kids from Indiana and Kentucky and I feel that we are not within the rule parameters of the OHSAA. Our goal is to win a Homeschool National Championship in Panama city and we have every intention of doing that this season.

8- If you had the talent to do it what offense and defense would you run?

Come watch us this season and you will see it because I believe we have the players to run what I want this season. I want to play fast on offense and defense and anybody that comes to watch us this year will see that.

9- What is the hardest offense to prepare for?

I hate grind it out teams, I want teams to throw the ball, I think it’s easier to defend. At least that has been the case for us the last two years but we were small upfront, but that is about to change.

10- Who is the one coach you like going head to head with?

Noblesville out of Indiana they play hard and clean and every time we play them the games are great to coach because we know as a program their goals are the same as ours.

If you want more information about playing for the Landmark Eagles check out Landmarkeagles.org