LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) - One of the top hires in the mid-Michigan high school football coaching cycle this offseason was Hall of Fame coach Dan Boggan, who came out of retirement to coach his alma mater, Lansing Eastern. Boggan last coached in 2017 when he was at Lansing Sexton for 11 seasons. He's the winningest coach in Sexton history and led the program to the state championship game in 2014.
That type of success has helped the players believe in Boggan's coaching philosophy. "It just feels different because I'm only used to the program now," Lansing Eastern senior Micheal Gilmore said. "He can change the program." Marcel Crenshaw, a junior wide receiver at Eastern, said, "(Boggan) coming back just motivated us even more. Him coming from a team where they went to the playoffs, state championships. I feel like we're looking forward to getting there as well." On top of his success at Lansing Sexton, Boggan had success as a player at Lansing Eastern. He's using his playing days to motivate the team, which would help the Quakers have their first winning season since 1997. "We definitely want to bring back that pride Eastern had when I was here," Boggan said. "I remind the fellas the last time we won a conference championship it was my junior year in high school (1985)." Senior Zaiden Harris said, "He has a lot of wins on his record. So we trust him. We listen to him, everything he says and does." Lansing Eastern will open the season on Thursday, August 27, against Eaton Rapids. Michigan Center is coming off of winning its first district title since 2021 and has plans to make it happen again this season.
With the Cardinals prepared for their 15th season under head coach Troy Allen and many stars to last years team now graduated, players who may not have played as much last season are being looked at to step into some key roles. Allen says if you're building a program the right way, the younger players should be prepared for when their time comes. He's hoping that's exactly what his team presents out on the field when the season starts, "We don't have a huge amount of numbers but we have a nice variation of depth," said Allen. "So I think the key is just getting guys a lot of opportunities and just making sure we're crisp at two levels." One player who is no rookie to playing at the varsity level is senior Tre Collins. Last season, Collins played receiver and broke the program's receiving record but will now step into his new role as the man under center. In his sophomore season, Collins would go in for quarterback after the QB1 went down with an injury. In that role, he became an all-conference quarterback. "It is different, definitely than last year because I was a receiver but it's kind of less work honestly," said Collins. "Not doing too much at practice besides just the quarterback stuff and offense of stuff Michigan Center will open the season on August 27th, when hey travel to take on Onsted. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.