By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
It was supper time in most households Monday, and Jeremy Wilburn was nowhere near home – although he felt on top of the world sitting with his new boss, Captain Shreve principal Bryant Sepulvado.
Wilburn, offensive coordinator at Huntington the last four years, had emerged from three finalists interviewed Monday for the Gators’ head football coaching position, met with his new team, and was beginning to look at 109 text messages received since news of his hiring popped out a couple hours earlier. Sepulvado gently reminded him he was overdue to call his wife Katie, and his father Mike, to share the milestone with them.
Not only is the 38-year-old Shreveport native, and former Byrd quarterback, a first-time head coach, he’s taking over a soaring Shreve program that went unbeaten winning the District 1-5A championship. The Gators set school offensive records and finished 9-2 under Adam Kirby’s leadership with the only losses to state Division I Select semifinalist Rummel and Division III Select champion Calvary Baptist, and have plenty of experience back in 2024.
Bring it on, he said. Wilburn is confident about the trajectory at Shreve, with the biggest enrollment in Caddo Parish and only slightly behind Airline in the local market.
“The momentum of a program, coming off a season like this one, is a great situation. Coach Kirby is a friend, and did a fantastic job along with this staff that’s in place,” he said. “There are expectations, but if you’re not a competitor and don’t welcome those, you probably don’t need to be in this profession.
“We’re looking for consistency, trying to maintain that level of success we had last year on a year-to-year basis. There’s programs that have been able to achieve that, and we can. We want to be something to reckon with every season.”
Wilburn, who was the second choice last year when Natchitoches Central enticed Many coach Jess Curtis to take over that program, got a ringing endorsement from his now-former boss, veteran Huntington coach Stephen Dennis.
“He’ll do a great job. Jeremy’s an incredibly hard worker, and a great person. We’ve scored a lot of points. He’s done a great job of being a leader on the offensive side of the ball,” said Dennis, “and he’s done a good job of preparing himself for this. I think he’s going to do a phenomenal job there.”
Sepulvado, who has been at Captain Shreve since 2010, and was a very successful head coach there for seven seasons before entering the school administration two summers ago, concurred.
“He reminded me a lot of me at this stage. It was time for him to get a chance to take the next step. Fortunately Captain Shreve took a chance on me and I saw the same things in him.
“I really liked his passion. He’s passionate, he’s thorough, he was well prepared. I called around and got a lot of positive feedback and I liked the product he’s put on the field,” said the principal and former Gators’ defensive coordinator. “I think it matches what we have here at Shreve and I’m looking for really great things going forward.”
Having Sepulvado in charge further confirmed Wilburn’s interest in the job after recently working for principals Justin James for two years at Airline and Dr. Matt Mitchell at Huntington.
“They’ve been tremendous principals, so I knew that is key to having a successful program, having that ally in the leadership position at the school,” said Wilburn. “That was a big component I know Shreve has for sure with Coach Sepulvado.”
Wilburn was a backup safety and played on special teams at Northwestern State, then started his coaching career under future Airline coach Bo Meeks at Mangham. Wilburn stepped away to finish his college degree at LSU, then returned to NSU as a graduate assistant on Bradley Dale Peveto’s staff. He worked in the oil and gas business in Houston for a few years, met his wife, and reconnected with Meeks at an NSU function at Superior’s Steakhouse and was offered a spot on the Airline staff for the 2018 season. A year later, the Vikings won district and reached the state quarterfinals, and Dennis tapped him for the Raiders’ offensive coordinator post.
The four years at Huntington “played a wonderful role in my life, and has been instrumental in my career. I love Rasberry Lane, and I’m very thankful for my time there,” said Wilburn. “Coach Dennis gave me a great opportunity and supported me 100 percent, and I couldn’t have asked for a better friend and a guy to coach with.”
Now he’ll meet with the coaches at Shreve, anticipating few if any changes.
“I don’t want to ruffle too many feathers,” he said. “Obviously these coaches have it on a great path. I have guys who want to come to Shreve, but we might not have any openings. Ultimately we may have 1-2 changes but we won’t have many.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com