When Floyd Brown was named the head coach of the Lehighton wrestling team before the season, the changeover was nearly seamless.

Brown, who coached the Indians from 2003-10, was tabbed to take the reins of the program after Danny Williams stepped down at the end of last year after coaching the team for the past six seasons.Brown hasn't been too far away from the program, however, working with the junior high wrestlers as an assistant before joining Williams' staff last year."Danny had an opening and he said about helping him out," Brown said. "So I came back as the assistant high school (coach) again. It was really just the right timing of it. It's something I enjoy doing. I kind of missed not doing it. I came back as the assistant, and it just kind of worked. It was the right timing and it kind of worked out."LENDING A HANDPart of his decision to return was due in large part to the help he has received from his staff."I have good assistants," Brown said. "I always had good assistants before, with Danny (Williams), Joe Ellis, Mike Feifel, and Brandon Brownmiller. And Zach (Kemmerer) is helping out this year. That's very helpful."And one of the reasons I did come back is because I knew I was going to have good assistant coaches. Brandon (Brownmiller) was the first guy I approached. I said if I decide to do this will you come back and be an assistant, and he said yes, which was perfect. I was the assistant coach in 2001 (when Brownmiller wrestled). And I coached Danny his senior year. I was also the assistant then. But it's been nice. I have great assistants in Terry Smith and Zane Bachert."Brown has also gotten plenty of support from former wrestlers who are eager to come in and help this year's squad."Some of the kids I coached previously, back when I was the head coach, like Eric and Eddie Parliman, have come in and worked out with us," Brown said. "Eric comes back a bunch. Zach Borger has come back. I've seen Dave Versuk and he wants to come back and roll around with the guys."And Tegan's (Durishn) been back. Connor's (Frey) been back and rolling around with us. A bunch of those guys. That's kind of what I like, building that tradition. Having those wrestlers come back and these guys kind of look up to them. When they were in middle school, they were the good wrestlers in high school. So they looked up to them and now they get to kind of work with them. So it's nice."BETTER UNDERSTANDINGGetting a first-hand look at some of his wrestlers last season as an assistant is also something Brown credits with easing his transition back into a head coaching role this winter."It was nice coming into it being the assistant last year because I got to know the guys," said Brown. "You know them differently when you're the head coach as opposed to being an assistant. It's just a different feel. So I got a little bit of a feel last year when I was the assistant. I thought we had a pretty good group. This year I feel I really know them well. It just kind of works."While getting acclimated to his surroundings a year ago has helped, Brown also pointed to his time with the junior high program as being instrumental in helping him in his second stint as the head coach at the varsity level."Before, over those couple years I was an assistant with the middle school team, I never had that coaching experience before so to come back and be an assistant at the middle school level actually helped," commented Brown. "It's much more hands on. I was the assistant and Brandon (Brownmiller) was actually the head coach, so we kind of just switched roles. It was nice to see that level and see what goes on, and teach those kids who are really green. Some of them are coming out for the first time."I think that helped. Just seeing that perspective with those younger guys. It's a totally different dynamic where you're really focusing on basics and conditioning. Here, you kind of have to get a little more involved in different situations and situational wrestling and strategizing the matches and those kinds of things. It's a little more demanding here. It was nice to be at that level and get a feel for how it works."STRONG FOUNDATIONTaking over a team that advanced to the final at the District 11 Team Championships a year ago and produced three state qualifiers in Frey, Durishin and Wyatt Clements, Brown acknowledged the bar was set high entering this season.But these Indians are accomplished in their own right, evidenced by the team making it to the second day of the district dual tournament last week.That kind of success is something Brown hopes to be a part of for years to come."I had big shoes to fill coming off last year," said Brown. "You're in the district (dual) finals, which is awesome. And Danny did a great job. I just want to hopefully keep the ball rolling and build up to that level again."We have a lot of young kids this year. We only graduate two seniors (Grant Wetzel and Dylan Schock), so I feel good about what's to come. Our elementary teams are doing well. The middle school (program) is doing well. So I feel good. I'm happy to be doing it again."********OFF THE MAT ... In Off The Mat's sixth issue of Class 2A state rankings this week, Northern Lehigh's Ryan Farber led the way, landing at the No. 2 spot at 160 pounds, while Northwestern's Caleb Clymer came in at No. 3 at 152. Palmerton's Jared Mooney (195) was ranked fourth and Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh (138) sixth in their respective weight classes. Northwestern's Bailey Wehr was seventh at 120. Panther Valley's Hunter Kennedy was 15th at 160. District 11 had two teams in Off the Mat's top-25 Dual Meet rankings. Saucon Valley was ranked second, while Wilson was No. 16.********WHAT'S ON TAP … Tamaqua will be the only area team in action this weekend. The Blue Raiders will travel to Pocono Mountain East today at 7 p.m. The match was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was pushed back a day due to inclement weather in the area.********POSTPONED … Northwestern's match against Liberty, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed due to the snowstorm that moved through the area. The Tigers will now host the Hurricanes on Tuesday. The contest will be varsity only and begin at 5 p.m.