Flowing with the Changes

by Drew Mason

[/sports/fball/2024-25/bios/myers_logan_p5u8]Logan Myers knows change is constant and he has embraced that in his time at William Penn.

Logan, the son of Jerome and Mary Myers, is a native of Joplin, Missouri and is the starting center for the Statesmen football team. He can trace his football journey all the way back to the third grade in Joplin.

“I grew up watching football, and in the third grade I was able to start playing tackle,” Myers said. “My dad threw me in and I fell in love with it. I was always a bigger kid, but I was a ball carrier and a linebacker in Pee Wee ball. Then I found McDonalds which obviously led me to become a little bit bigger.”

Being a lineman, the fifth-year senior, who is pursuing a degree in Business Management and minors in Economics and Entrepreneurship, does not receive the fanfare like his quarterback or running back counterparts, but he understands his role as an unsung hero.

“I feel like pancakes should be added to the stat sheet, but I’ve grown up never having that fame,” Myers said. “However, us linemen are famous with our teammates and coaches. It’s an unselfish position; we do our job to make sure other guys stand out on the stat sheet.”

Myers played his prep ball at Joplin High School, collecting first-team all-district, first-team all-area, and first-team all-conference honors. He credits all his high school success to everyone but himself.

“I had a great high school coach, great high school football community, and I was surrounded by great teammates like (former William Penn player) Dylan Wemer, Parker Erickson, and (current New York Jets player) Isaiah Davis; our whole team had great chemistry,” Myers said. “I grew up with all those guys playing youth football, from middle school to high school. It allowed us to bond and know what we wanted to achieve. We made it to the Missouri state championship game my senior year, but sadly lost.”

Despite his achievements at JHS, Myers still wasn’t sure about playing at the next level, even in his senior campaign.

“I was skeptical about it because I was told I was not big enough to play in any big divisions or leagues,” Myers said. “I turned that into motivation, people saying who would want a five-foot, 11-inch center/guard.”

Contrary to the cynics, it turned out plenty of schools were interested in such an athlete as he received five scholarship opportunities, but with help from a former teammate, one stood out and Myers eventually chose William Penn to continue his academics and athletics.

“The biggest influence on my choice to come to WPU was Dylan Wemer,” Myers said. “He was my high school teammate and friend and I looked up to him. I knew he was someone I could trust and depend on, so I decided to come here to play with him.”

As a freshman, Myers received limited reps at the varsity level, playing just one quarter of a blowout game late in the season. He eventually took a redshirt that year. Things started to ramp up for him during his sophomore season, however, and preseason injuries led to him becoming the starting guard for the Statesmen.

“It was the ‘next man up’ mentality when our left guard went down,” Myers said. “It became my turn to play, which led to me starting a lot of games.”

In 2021, William Penn went 3-8, forcing a change as then-Head Coach Todd Hafner went away from the squad’s triple-option offense scheme in favor of the spread option. He also hired Jake Warehime as Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line Coach and Warehime immediately moved Myers from his guard position to center.

“Becoming the center really put a chip on my shoulder because of my size,” Myers said. “Ever since then, I’ve been motivated to never fall behind.”

Myers never looked back following the position change, becoming an honorable-mention all-Heart of America Conference selection in 2022. Now a staple of the Statesmen offense, he grew into a great leader for the team as well. He credits that transition to former leaders on the team in whom he looked up.

“I know how my experience was when I was an underclassman and I wanted to be able to help my younger teammates,” Myers said. “I wanted to motivate the younger guys to be leaders like myself or guys I looked up to like Ben Sherman, Alex Crehan, or Dylan Wemer who helped me along the way.”

Myers enjoyed a great individual junior campaign, but overall the team was still struggling and another big change occurred as Hafner resigned. Marc Benavidez would then take over, but even in the era of transfer portals, Myers never had a thought of leaving William Penn. He also encouraged as many of his teammates as he could to stay committed throughout the coaching switch.

“The transition from Coach Hafner to Coach Benavidez was a weird time in December 2022,” Myers said. “While others were trying to figure out whether they wanted to stay or leave, personally, I just kept showing up–going to practice and weights, while keeping up with grades. I just worked hard to persuade everyone that everything was going to be fine.”

Coaching changes have been commonplace for Myers, who has had three different position coaches during his time in the navy and gold.

“I spent freshman year with Coach (Brett) Stewart who he recruited me to play here; it was hard to hear he was leaving,” Myers said. “Coach (Jake) Warehime, who was also an excellent coach, helped me on and off the field. No matter if it was football or personal stuff, he was there for me. (Current) Coach (Connor) Floden is now doing great things here. He’s getting us involved in different things and trying to make us better all the time. For me, it hasn’t been a hard transition between any of them because they all allowed me to just be myself.”

From the first day on campus, Myers has always known he made the right decision to attend school at William Penn. That knowledge did not waver in the program’s head coaching switch.

“I knew this place was home right away; I love the people here, we have great facilities and awesome professors who have helped me,” Myers said. “I’m a team guy, I’m going to do whatever it takes for the team and when Coach Benavidez came in, I was going to fill whatever role they needed me to.”

As a senior in 2023, Myers continued to excel, and his leadership and play from his junior year was noticed by everyone as he was named a team captain in 2023. He did not disappoint, improving to earn second-team all-Heart recognition. He locked it down off the gridiron as well by being named to the President’s List for academics. It was just another example of how he strives to be the best for his team.

“I buy in to what the coaches are preaching to us,” Myers said. “I want to take ownership and accountability of every action I make; I want to lead by example.”

In less than two years under Coach Benavidez’s reign, Myers has already seen a change in the way things are done.

“The culture here has definitely changed; Coach wants us to win in everything we do,” Myers said. “We’re constantly doing things to put ourselves in a position to excel. It’s helped that a lot of guys have stepped up in the classroom as well, compared to before; that’s a place where we as a football team struggled. Even on the practice field, we have a much higher competitive edge compared to past years, and it shows on Saturdays. Since Coach Benavidez has been here, we’re never out of the fight.”

The first person in his family to attend a four-year college, Myers is currently playing in his fifth year at William Penn where he continues to work hard to accomplish his goals on and off the field.

“My family is my motivation to get this done and I hope to continue to make them proud,” Myers said.

Set to complete his degree in December, Myers has a bittersweet feeling because of how much he enjoys being at William Penn.

“This place is everything to me,” Myers said. “It has been home to me for five years now. I’ve stayed here since the summer of my sophomore year and haven’t left. The community is great to us, but we are also able to give back and do things for them. There’s no place I’d rather go to school.”