OKEMOS - Okemos High School recently named Brad Lilly as the interim football coach for the 2021 season. Lilly is set to replace Mike Krumm at the head of the Okemos program, after his three-year tenure came to an end July 13, when he formally announced he would be resigning as coach in favor of a job with the Michigan State Police.

The search for an interim coach lasted nearly a week, before Lilly was announced as the hire on July 18.

When asked how it felt to take over the program on short notice, Lilly said, “It’s been a whirlwind...we’ve just been trying to get our players ready for competition, trying to take a look at every aspect of the program, and see where we can make some improvements.”

2021 will mark the first season that Okemos High School will not compete with the ‘Chiefs’ or ‘Chieftans’ mascot, as the Okemos Board of Education moved to nix the name earlier this summer.

The change was not without some controversy in the community, and when asked about the hot-button topic, Lilly was receptive to the changes: “I’m going to support whatever the school district decides to do, one way or the other...I sympathize with both sides...going forward, I think we need to pick something that everyone in the community can get behind...that is culturally sympathetic.”

The Okemos High program has struggled as of late, with a record of 1-15 in the last two seasons, and according to Lilly, has modest roster numbers for the upcoming season. Lilly is undeterred about turning things around, though: “It may be tough, [but] going forward, this season, we’re going to have a lot of great players giving a lot of great effort…”.

Okemos will begin fully-padded practices on August 9th, and open the season at home against Mason on August 26.