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Redhawk reunion made official as Coon inks SEMO football NLI
After making his initial commitment back in August, Zane Coon celebrated college football’s National Signing Day by putting pen to paper and inking his National Letter of Intent to Southeast Missouri State University.
Taking place in Jackson High School’s Event Center commons, Coon’s signing confirmed that he’d join his father, SEMO defensive coordinator Ricky Coon, as a Redhawk football player.
“It was a hard decision,” Zane Coon said. “As the recruiting process went along and I got more traction, going on visits and stuff, I built relationships with those coaches.
“Getting to play for my dad is something that I've always wanted to do. Ever since I was a kid, the thought of being able to play with him has been in my mind. Having that be able to come true, it feels surreal.”
Keeping it in the family, the reunion comes on the heels of the family’s return to southeast Missouri a year and a half ago.
Ricky Coon coached for five seasons between 2014 and 2018 as the defensive line and associate head coach at Southeast Missouri State before taking the head coaching position at Dodge City Community College.
After three seasons there, he returned to Southeast Missouri State as the defensive coordinator in 2022. Bringing his son with him, the Coons had a big decision to make on where rising junior Zane Coon would go to school.
Growing up in the Cape Girardeau School District, Zane went five years alongside quarterback Adrian Fox, who made a similar decision to transfer from Cape Central to Jackson in 2022.
Making the tough choice to leave behind some old friends at Cape Central, Zane instead enrolled at Jackson and quickly made a splash impact on the Indians’ offensive line.
“I had a meeting with coach [Brent] Eckley and decided that this was a better place for me,” Coon said. “To be at school and to play football, it’s a better place. Ever since I've gotten here, my growth has been outstanding.
“With coach Eckley being here my junior year and then coach [Ryan] Nesbitt, I've seen so much growth — not only as an athlete, but a person as well. I'm very grateful for Jackson, and it's had a lot to do with my growth to this point.”
Zane became an immediate starter in 2022 and returned as a key piece of Jackson’s team in 2023. As one of the only veteran members of Jackson’s trench unit, he guided a line of rookies to becoming one of the strongest lines in the region.
Holding a cast of Division-I offers and making a hard commitment to the Redhawks before the season began, Zane led the Indians to a Class 6 District 1 title a month ago. Now, he’s keeping his talent local as a future Redhawk lineman.
“The big thing for me at SEMO was the family and the people,” Coon began. “At Jackson, the big thing is brotherhood. That's something that SEMO really emphasizes as well. Being a part of that football program, it's a brotherhood.
“The coaches truly care about you here. I'd go on visits to other places and they wouldn't emphasize the off-the-field stuff as much. Being brothers with your teammates, the culture, having coaches that truly care about you — that just wasn't emphasized as much throughout the other programs that I visited.
“SEMO is unique in that right.”