Mustangs Corral Luplow As New Football Coach

NHS in ‘good place’ with former Brighton offensive coordinator taking reins

By Brad Emons

Although he’s at the ripe age of 28, Northville High School’s new varsity football coach Brent Luplow brings a wealth of knowledge beyond his years.

The son of a Hall of Fame football coach from Clare, Michigan, Luplow got the nod after spending the past four years as the offensive coordinator for KLAA Central Division rival Brighton.

Luplow replaces Matt Ladach, who stepped down after 15 years as the Mustangs’ head coach where he compiled an overall record of 89-56, including nine playoff berths and four KLAA Central Division titles.

“The things I’ve done at Brighton have helped me prepare to be here,” Luplow said on Feb. 11, the morning after accepting the job offer from Northville. “When I interviewed, I told them that I’ve done everything possibly I could do at Brighton to prepare myself to be head coach without being a varsity head coach. So, I feel super ready for this opportunity.

“It’s been a crazy last 14 hours – my phone hasn’t stopped ringing – and I slept for seven of those hours. But I’m excited,” he continued. “I know I’m going to surround myself with good people and good mentors and get assistant coaches that will help these kids not only in the game of football, but life. And that will help me with the things I don’t know. But I’m super excited to learn about the community, learn about the kids, and immerse myself in what’s all ahead of me here.”

What attracted Luplow about the position is that he perceived Brighton and Northville to being very similar communities.

Ironically, in last year’s homecoming meeting before an overflow crowd at Tom Holzer Field, Brighton (8-2) earned a hardfought 17-14 win and went on to win the division title by a game over second-place Northville.

“A lot of familiarity playing Northville the last five or six years in the league (KLAA),” Luplow said. “I think it’s the same type of kid for the most part, very similar families. And everything about this place is first class. You walk in the school and you see how beautiful it is, the facilities are beautiful. The support from the community is awesome. We came over here last year for our game versus Northville and it was the best environment we had all year. People all over the place and not a seat to be had. That and just the commitment to excellence that I’ve seen is something I want to be a part of, and I think we can grow that under my leadership.”

The selection process to replace Ladach proved to be long and tedious, but Luplow ultimately emerged as the school’s choice. He will also become a part of Northville’s faculty in the fall where he is certified to teach Business, Marketing and English.

“It was longer than I anticipated, but we got to the finish line,” Northville athletic director Brian Samulski said. “I think everyone’s excited. The school is excited, the kids are excited to get started and I think we’re in a good place.”

Luplow inherits a program where the cupboard is fairly stocked. The Mustangs return several key performers off a team that finished 8-3 in Ladach’s final season before being upended by Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the Division 1 district final, 42-17.

In Luplow’s first season as offensive coordinator (2019) under head coach Brian Lemons at Brighton, the Bulldogs finished 11-3 and reached the Division 1 state finals at Ford Field before losing to Davison, 35-25. In the state semifinal game that season, Brighton shocked No. 1-ranked and previously undefeated Belleville, 22-19.

“We’re going to be a multiple, power spread offense,” Luplow said of his plans for Northville. “We want to be tough and physical on both sides of the ball. We want to play very multiple in what we do and make teams prepare for multiple and different things. And do some different things that some teams in our league don’t do. We want to be something where teams have to prepare for us and worry about the formations that we give them, but we want to fly around, want to play fast at times, but we want to slow it down as well. We’re going to spread it out as well. We’re going to use a lot of motion shifts.”

“And then defensively force turnovers. Fly around to the football, be great tacklers and super fundamental all around. We’re going to be super disciplined and we’re going to do things the right way and coach for discipline and be a really good, fundamental football team.”

Luplow literally grew up on the sidelines watching and then playing for his father Kelly, who coached 35 years at Clare posting an overall record of 251-95 from 1987-2021.

“I’ve been involved in inventory equipment since I was three,” Brent Luplow said. “I feel old because I’ve been in the locker room and the coach’s office with him forever. He’s taught me a ton. He’s going to come help this fall. One of the top things is being able to relate to the kids and being a transformational coach, not a transactional coach, and being someone who’s there for everything in their life, not just a football season.”

After graduating from Alma College where he played quarterback (201215), Luplow did his student teaching at

Shepherd High and launched his coaching career at Clare in 2016. His first teaching position was at Ida before moving over to Brighton in the fall of 2017.

Luplow also serves as the JV boys basketball coach at Brighton, posting 17-1 record (through Feb. 10). His overall record as freshman and JV basketball coach at Brighton is 83-6.

Luplow, a triplet, has two sisters in the coaching ranks – Reyna, the new varsity girls basketball coach at Hartland, and Jillian, who coached volleyball in Alma. Recently married this past July, Brent and his wife Mary currently reside in South Lyon.

“I think what impressed myself and the entire committee was just Brent’s personfirst mentality. He’s all about kids, very organized, bases everything around building strong relationships with kids and that’s what we’re all about . . . just a down to earth guy who wants to get to work and grind like all of us here,” Samulski said.