(Plymouth) — When Ron Shaffer stepped down after five seasons as Rochester football coach, he did it with a plan.

“I was just kinda ok with stepping back and seeing how the process went at Rochester and hoping my son Isaac would get the job,” admits the veteran coach.  “I was looking forward to watching him on Friday nights.”

Isaac did indeed get the Rochester job Tuesday night…on the same night that Ron Shaffer was named the new head coach of the Plymouth Rockies.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said a joyful Shaffer after Tuesday’s Plymouth school board meeting. “It’s about the neatest thing a dad could experience. He’s put in his work as a player for four years at Lewis Cass, played at UIndy. He put in his time. He learned under me. It’s gonna be neat to see him develop. And now — to have two Shaffers coaching on Friday night on two separate fields — is pretty unbelievable.”

The elder Shaffer was approached by Plymouth administration after putting up a 39-13 record in five seasons at the helm of the Zebras.

“Who doesn’t want to play football in the Northern Lakes Conference?,” asked Shaffer. “It’s one of the premier conferences in the north along with the Summit and the Duneland. It’s a special conference with some really good football in it.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Plymouth was one of the league’s top teams, and Shaffer wants to restore that tradition.

“We want to win the conference and win sectional championships and move on in the tournament,” Shaffer said of his expectations. “We have really good kids and community support. Academically, the school is strong…one of the best in the area. When John Barron was there, Plymouth was a dominant program.”

Shaffer also praised his predecessor, Adam Handley, who was fired in December.

“The numbers are strong. I expect us to have 80 kids in the top four classes — that’s one of the things Adam did well is get kids to play,” notes Shaffer. “They’re only one season removed from beating Warsaw in the regular season. We just have to get a consistency and an offense back to their roots of pounding the football and playing good defense.”

Ron Shaffer knows his biggest supporter — his wife — may now be be torn on Friday night allegiances.

“We actually talked about it,” he laughs. “She decided she would attend Plymouth home games, but check out the Zebras when we’re on the road.”