HARROD, Ohio (WLIO) - Our Countdown to Kickoff continues in Allen County, this time over at Allen East.

The Mustangs have a new man at the helm, as Shane Wireman takes over after spending the past two seasons at Shawnee.

Now, Coach Wireman is looking to bring his experience to Allen East and get the Mustangs ready to make some noise in 2026.

It was another tough season for the Allen East football program. The Mustangs went 3-7 in 2025, finished sixth in the Northwest Conference and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row.

But there's a changing of the guard in Harrod, with Allen East alumnus Shane Wireman coming over after two seasons at Shawnee to lead the Mustangs.

"As this being the place that I played football growing up as a kid and it's something that's ingrained in my blood, I always wanted to have an opportunity to come back and it just worked out this year that there was an opening and it seemed like a good time for me to make a move and I'm really excited that they've trusted me to kind of come in and take over the program," said Allen East head coach Shane Wireman.

And head coach Wireman inherits a team returning 23 letter winners, including third-year projected quarterback Keagan Jones.

"We expect him to come in there and command the offense, know what all 11 guys are doing, speak peace to the huddle when it needs to be, confident with what we're calling, make all of our checks. You know, we'll try to, again, give him more and more of the playbook as we get going," said Wireman.

"One thing I need to prove on this year is my consistency in the short pass game and reading from short to middle and get hitting those like 12-yard routes I think will be beneficial. I think my deep ball is proven. And I think if I can get in those middle and them short route concepts, it'll get the ball to our playmakers. It'll open up a lot more," said Jones.

Allen East is looking for their first winning season since 2022. With a new playbook in place, head coach Shane Wireman says the key for the Mustangs is simple, trust the process.

"I know that's cliché for a lot of coaches to say that, but Coach Billings has developed some great players here. It really comes down to what can your kids understand and what can they execute. So we want to make sure that we teach it in a kid-friendly way where they can understand exactly what we're asking to do, spell it out clearly, and then rep it and rep it and rep it until they can't mess it up," said Wireman.

Week one, the Mustangs will hit the road to take on the Perry Commodores — an opponent Coach Wireman knows well from his nine years at Waynesfield-Goshen.

"So we're familiar with each other. We know what both of us are going to do. At the end of the day, it's going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes," said Wireman.

And the Mustangs are looking to get back to the top of the NWC standings and capture their first league title since 2022.

"We just need to play more as a team. I feel like last year, each guy put his head down once they made one mistake and then they kind of went downhill from there. I think if everybody can keep their head up, even though they make mistakes, I think we can put together some games," said Allen East senior running back and linebacker Miles McDorman.

Two years without a playoff berth has left the Mustangs hungry, but with plenty of talent on the roster, the goal now is to find the right formula to get back into the postseason.

"It's very personal. We haven't been to the playoffs in a few years now and it hurts. I mean, sitting in the locker room after that last game of Fort Loramie game last year, you don't ever want to feel that again. So I feel like that's been a lot of fuel going into this season," said Jones.

"We have a lot of talented players. Sometimes it might be a heavy run night, some nights it might be a heavy pass night, some nights it might be balanced. Not everything's going to go perfect but just staying the course and making sure that we get enough good plays in there that at the end of the game we can have enough to get the job done," said Wireman.

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