Jonathan “Fin” Calder has been watching Woodsfield and Monroe Central football since basically the early 80s.

He will have his best seat yet for the Seminoles season this fall.

Calder — a 1994 Woodsfield High School graduate — was formally approved as the head coach of the Seminoles football team during the Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education meeting held Monday evening.

“It’s an honor and exciting to be officially approved and I am grateful to the administration and board of education for the opportunity,” Calder said. “I’ve known for about three weeks that I was being recommended to the board, so I’ve been preparing as much as possible and getting things ready.”

Calder takes over for Josh Ischy, who had served as the Seminoles head coach for five seasons.

Calder spent the last two seasons working under Ischy as an assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball.

“I really have to thank Josh Ischy because I learned a tremendous amount from him the past two seasons,” Calder said. “I really appreciate him taking me on the staff.”

Calder, 47, was a part of the last Woodsfield High School graduating class and lettered for three years under legendary head coach Jay Circosta. His senior season with the Redskins was in 1993, which was when the Switzerland of Ohio School teaching staff had a strike.

“Football is the only sport I ever played, even going back to my youth days,” Calder said. ”

Outside of a six-year period when Calder worked outside of the Ohio Valley, he’s been around Monroe Central in one capacity or another ever since.

Along with his time on the varsity staff, Calder spent three seasons at the junior-high level. He’s also been heavily involved with ‘The Sideliners’ which is a booster group at Monroe Central.

Obviously, Calder acknowledges the jump that’s in store for him as he transitions to head coach.

“It’s definitely a jump up, but I have a lot of help around me,” Calder said. “Coach Circosta and Coach (Dave) Schuerman are going to help and two assistants (Curtis Nixon and Marcus Schumacher) are coming back as well. So, I am going to have a really good group of coaches and guys around me, which will help ease the jump, which is very big. I feel like I am prepared for it.”

Calder was always intrigued by coaching as he grew up and actually had dreams of one day being the head coach, but by the time he got into coaching, it wasn’t long after that he moved outside of the area.

Once he returned to the Ohio Valley, he’s spent the last 16 years working as a graphic designer for Mail of America in Wheeling. He’s been working remotely since COVID-19, which has allowed him to get back into coaching.

Calder, who is encouraged by the number of players who have signed up, is going to meet with his team today to formally lay out the summer schedule.

As for what Monroe Central football fans can expect to see when the Seminoles open the season on Aug. 18 against Edison, it’ll look a little like “old-school football,” according to Calder.

“Offensively, it’ll be more under center and running the ball with some shotgun mixed in and a little bit of Wing-T,” Calder said. ”

In the bigger picture, Calder’s core coaching values include discipline, accountability and execution.

“I don’t care if we only have 10 plays in the playbook, but for those 10 plays, I want the kids to go 100 miles per hour doing them,” Calder said. “My hope is that we’re playing fast and physical football like we’ve done in the past.”

Fin and his wife, Vickie (Pittman) have two sons. Both Cy (4th grade) and Camden (2nd grade) are students at Woodsfield Elementary.

Fin also has a daughter — Caylin — who is a freshman at Monroe Central.