Correspondent file photo / Robert Hayes Howland football coach Brian Jones works through a drill during practice last season during his time as an assistant with Poland.

HOWLAND — Brian Jones has been in this spot before.

Just over a decade ago, Jones inherited a Liberty program coming off of an 0-10 season, and in his lone season at the helm, the Leopards roared back for a 9-3 mark and a postseason appearance that included a win over Streetsboro.

Now, in his first head coaching job since then, Jones is looking to rejuvenate another Mahoning Valley program. The Liberty grad was hired in December to take over the Howland football team, which is seeking to bounce back from consecutive 2-8 seasons.

That begins with assembling the right staff, Jones noted. According to Howland’s social media, his staff includes Jacob Lipkovich (assistant offensive line, assistant freshmen coach), Brendan Jones (defensive line), Sean Borawiec (assistant head coach, defensive backs, special teams coordinator), Logan Sheptock (wide receivers, head freshmen coach), Scott Thompson (offensive line, Howland assistant activities director), Mike Tricomi (running backs), Eric Ungaro (senior assistant), Jon Mosora (linebackers), Sam Bellino (defensive coordinator, safeties) and Dillon Randolph (H-backs, tight ends, director of sports performance).

“It was the same kind of makeup (at Liberty) — just trying to revitalize things and get things going in the right direction,” Jones said. “It’s just one day at a time. As a head coach, you’re only as good as the people around you. So I think going into this year, I’ve been on some great coaching staffs. … I’ve been very fortunate and have been around some great coaches. I think we have a really good staff here, and I’m really looking forward to gelling with those guys this (fall) camp.

“But you’re as good as the people you put around you, and I’m really looking forward to putting our stamp on this new era of Tigers football.”

Beyond the coaching staff, Jones says this year’s crop of 16 seniors has looked to put its best foot forward in order to steer the ship back in the right direction. That, Jones noted, has parlayed into a strong offseason since December.

That group will be called upon to post career-best seasons collectively if Howland is to take the steps forward it’s seeking to take.

“Things are off to a great start. When I first walked through the door, I found a group of seniors eager to be coached, and they parlayed that into a heck of an offseason. … We’ve been setting the program standards from Day 1, and things are starting to head in the right direction. But we have a long way to go. We’re just sticking with the process, and things are coming together nicely,” Jones said.

Howland is losing significant production from a season ago, Jones noted, so the Tigers will have plenty of position battles as camp gets underway leading into August.

So far, the trenches have been the “strong suits” in Jones’ eyes, which plays well into what his staff wants to do. Jones says the Tigers want to play smash mouth football with an emphasis on running the ball. However, the Howland staff will be tasked with replacing a lot of firepower at the skill positions.

Still, it all begins up front.

“When you look at the past of Howland football, they’ve always been described as a physical, run-the-ball first program that’s really good between the tackles, plays hard, and plays fierce,” Jones said. “I think this will be no different. I think we’re obviously going to work this summer to develop an identity on each side of the ball, but that begins with our ability to establish the run game and find different, unique ways getting a run game off to a good start and then incorporating a pass game to stretch the field and force defenses to play us the whole length of the field.”

Howland begins its season Aug. 17 at Niles.