ONA, W.Va. — At this time last month, John Ashworth was preparing for his second season on the Cabell Midland High School football coaching staff while readying to enjoy summer.
While both of those remain true today, Ashworth, recently approved as the Knights’ head coach, finds himself in an entirely different situation as he gets set to embark on his first head coaching gig at one of the state’s more successful programs over the last decade.
“I’m kind of a high energy guy anyways and when I got that phone call, it was a surreal dream,” Ashworth said. “I’d spent almost 10 years coaching in college and never really expected to be a head coach this soon at any level. To inherit a program like Cabell Midland is an amazing thing. A lot of first-time head coaches don’t get the keys to a kingdom like Cabell Midland.”
A 2006 graduate of Poca High School who earned a degree from West Virginia University five years later, Ashworth’s background includes aquatics director at the Huntington YMCA and a private sector position at law firm Steptoe & Johnson.
Ashworth began coaching football in 2015 at West Virginia State when he guided the outside linebackers and helped extensively in the film room. He went to also serve as the Yellowjackets’ assistant defensive backs coach, and altogether, he was part of the WVSU staff for four seasons under both previous head coach Jon Anderson and current head coach John Pennington.
In January 2019, Ashworth was presented an opportunity to make the leap to Old Dominion, which he did as a defensive quality control coach. However, Ashworth’s tenure in Norfolk, Virginia, spanned only the 2019 season, which saw the Monarchs lose their final 11 games and cut ties with then head coach Bobby Wilder.
Ashworth opted to move back to southern West Virginia and spent the 2020 high school football season coaching defensive backs at Hurricane High School, the alma mater of his father, Mike Ashworth.
He didn’t remain in the position for long.
In 2021, Ashworth made the transition back to college and accepted a position on the Jacksonville State staff. With the Gamecocks still competing at the FCS level then, their season spanned from the fall of 2020 into the spring of 2021, with all but four of their 13 games played in 2021. A 10-win campaign ended with a loss to Delaware in a national quarterfinal, and following the fall of 2021 season, JSU brought in Rich Rodriguez as the replacement to previous head coach John Grass.
Having previously worked as a graduate assistant with both wide receivers and the defensive line under Grass, Ashworth remained on staff under Rodriguez as a defensive analyst.
“I’ve been around a lot of different styles,” Ashworth said. “John Grass was more of a put his arm around you, and he’d tell you he loved you and really believed in you. Some things, I took away from him and I really respected him. Then Rich Rod came in and he’ll put his arm around you, too, but after he gives you a good tongue lashing. He’s really intense and his attention to detail is amazing. Nothing escapes him. It had always been a dream of mine to coach under him and learn from him, and that was a really special thing. Ultimately I took things away from everybody to make my style.”
After earning his Master’s Degree at JSU, Ashworth opted to again return to southern West Virginia.
“I wanted to spend more time with my dad. He’s getting older and I wanted us to be able to see each other more and have him see me coach more.”
In 2023, Ashworth became passing game coordinator at Cabell Midland, where he also teaches special education.
The Knights were the No. 1 seed in the Class AAA playoffs and won 10 games before bowing out in the quarterfinal round.
In late May, former CMHS head coach Luke Salmons left to be head coach at Corbin High School in Kentucky. Salmons had filled the position in Ona since 2011 and compiled a 118-37 record during his tenure with the Knights, which included a postseason berth in each of his 13 seasons, two state runner-up finishes and five Mountain State Athletic Conference Championships.
“The biggest thing is putting my own spin on things. I’m not Luke. Those are big Crocs to fill so to speak,” said Ashworth, referencing Salmons’ usual footwear on the sidelines. “But we’re keeping the main thing the main thing, and we have to show up to work every day and be ready to put the work in to improve. We have a gauntlet out of the gate and our kids have to be ready for anybody. It’s not going to get any easier. Our conference is like a high school version of the SEC in West Virginia. We have to put our heads down, worry about us and do the work.”
Midland utilized a powerful run-first approach consistently under Salmons, though the Knights’ offense displayed more balance last season with Robert Shockey at quarterback.
While Shockey has exhausted all of his eligibility, Ashworth is hopeful the Knights can maintain that balance under his watch.
“It’s going to look similar to what we looked like last year and it’ll be an evolution of last year’s offense,” Ashworth said. “But make no mistake, at Cabell Midland we’re going to run the ball and try to make sure nobody outworks us. It’s going to be an us against the world mentality and I want our kids to believe in each other. At the end of the day, we’re all we have and I firmly believe that. I tell the kids we’re a relative unknown. There are a lot of kids we have in the upcoming season that people will say, who’s that guy?’ They haven’t gotten that experience yet, but one thing I liked about Luke and building a program is he was always preparing for the future.”
In the process, Ashworth is grateful his father can take in many of the experiences and is nearby to offer advice and provide guidance.
“My dad and I have been through a lot. He shaped me into the man I am today,” Ashworth said. “I look up to him. He’s my hero. One thing I took away from him was I never wanted to let him down. I was never afraid of him getting mad at me, but I never wanted to let him down. Having him in the stands and the look on his face when people congratulate me, that’s worth it right there.”