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Football Dreams

Summary:

After years of playing second fiddle to his twin brother, "Superboy" Jordan Kent, Jonathan is looking for a change and starts teaching science at a high school. When Jon is offered the job of head football coach, he is ecstatic. But how will the coaches and community members react? How will his own parents feel?

Join Jonathan Kent as he sets out to carve a new path and tries to prove to his family, and friends that even though he doesn't have powers, he is still good enough to lead a team to victory one more time.

***Updates on the weekends***

Notes:

Hey all, so I've had this story in mind for a while, and I thought it was about time to post it and see what everyone thinks. It has been so fun reading all the stories that explore the different careers Jon could have one day. In this story, Jon is a teacher and football coach!

I know in the show he is probably going to lean away from that, which makes sense. But I felt that since it was a part of his life for so long, that it was possible Jon might be drawn back to it one day.

There will be plenty of fun original characters for Jon to interact with, as well as appearances and mentions of all your favorite Kent family members.

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment below because I would to hear your thoughts :)

-Rose

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Chapter Text

Jonathan Kent strolled down the empty halls of Richardson High School, wondering what he had done to get called to the principal’s office after only a week of school. 

 

Of course, he was 23 now, and working there as a teacher, so it wasn’t quite the same as being a student. But still, he was concerned.

 

In a few minutes Jon had a meeting with the principal, Mr. Kyle Sawyer, a man who was tall in stature but quick to smile. They had hit it off right away and Jon had liked him immediately. He was immensely grateful to the principal for giving him a chance, even though he was fresh out of college. But the appreciation went both ways. Kyle was excited to add such a motivated, but easygoing staff member to his school. 

 

As a plus, Jon happily stepped in as their new assistant football coach, which was a position they had been trying to fill.

 

Even though he was young, Jon felt that he had done a good job so far. The students seemed to respect and get along with him. His lesson plans were always complete and detailed. In short, Jon had a great case to be employee of the month.

 

Which is why it was alarming that he had gotten a text from the principal the previous night requesting a meeting with him before school that next Monday morning.

 

Instead of sleeping, he had spent several hours  worrying and wracking his brain, trying to come up with what he might have done wrong. His conclusion: nothing.

 

As he passed through the empty halls that sported posters for musical tryouts and homecoming committee, Jon couldn’t help but remember his own time in high school. As a kid, he had figured they would be some of the best years of his life. 

 

But finding out his dad was Superman and moving to Smallville changed all that. Plus, after the X-K mess, Jon never gained back the stellar reputation he once had in Metropolis. 

 

In fact, he worked tirelessly for the next few years trying to convince the closed minded citizens of Smallville that he wasn’t all bad; a feat he never quite achieved.

 

When he had left for college, Jon assumed he was done with football. But he needed to get a job and after three years of customer service he wanted a change. As luck would have it, Jon ended up working for a local football team, mostly assisting the head coach with menial tasks like checking out uniforms and equipment, paperwork, or filling water bottles. 

 

But it was a job that kept him involved with a game he had loved since he could walk. Plus, it gave him something else to think about besides his twin brother flying all over the world as Superboy.

 

Jon was invited back the next year and having some tenure by then, got the opportunity to watch film with the coaches and actually work with some players. The coach was especially pleased when Jon announced he had switched his major to education so he could coach football. He claimed that Jon was a natural and his future students would be lucky to have him.

 

And now, four years later, Jon was teaching full time, working as an assistant coach, and hoping he hadn’t done anything to screw up the job he had quickly fallen in love with.

 

Standing outside the principal’s door, Jon forced himself to relax. Kyle Sawyer was a cool guy, and whatever the problem was, it could be worked out. 

 

He hoped.

 

“Come on in,” Kyle said, after Jon hesitantly knocked on the door. The principal was sitting at his large, wooden desk. It was covered with a mix of family photos and sports trophies; Kyle was sentimental like that.

 

“Jon Kent,” he bellowed, standing up for a hand shake. “How are you this morning?”

 

“Just fine, sir,” Jon answered, trying to remind himself to be confident. After all, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

“Good, good. Sit down, son.” Jon took a seat, Kyle did the same. “Thanks so much for meeting me early like this.”

 

“It’s no problem sir,” Jon said, pasting a smile on his face, hoping it was convincing.

 

“I appreciate you being so flexible, especially during a difficult situation like this,” Kyle said, his smile faltering.

 

 Jon’s heart dropped. This could not be happening. “A situation like what, sir?”

 

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this…”

 

Jon’s pulse beat faster.

 

“Coach Mason had a stroke yesterday.”

 

Jon raised his eyebrows. Coach Mason was the head football coach. “Is he alright?”

 

“His wife told me it was a little touch and go for a while, but yes, he has a good chance to make a full recovery.”

 

Jonathan let out a deep sigh. “Well that’s good.”  Coach Mason was a perfect fit for the world of high school football. He was gruff, disciplined, had a booming voice, and above all, very passionate about the sport. In addition, he was fair to the players and welcomed Jon to his staff with open arms. Jon was sorry to see the man hurt. “What does his recovery process look like?”

 

“Once he gets out of the hospital, a lot of rehab, relearning to talk and use the left side of his body.”

 

“Oh wow,” Jon said, genuinely surprised that the stroke had done that much in such a short amount of time.

 

“Yeah, he’s got a long road ahead and everybody here at the school is going to do whatever they can to help.”

 

Jon nodded. “Yes, sir. Absolutely, of course.”

 

“Which brings me to why I called you in this morning,” Kyle leaned forward in his seat. “I need somebody to take over as head football coach. And I’d like to offer you the job.”

 

Jon’s jaw dropped. He was just 23. School had only been in session for a week. He didn’t have any experience.

 

“Me, sir?”

 

“Yes, you, Jon. You’ve done great work here and you know the sport backwards and forwards. It’s a big favor to ask, I know, but we really need someone to step in.”

 

Still baffled, Jon needed more information. “Well, wouldn’t one of the other assistant coaches be better? I mean they’re older and have been here way longer.”

 

Kyle nodded in agreement. “That’s true, but the others are only on the coaching staff. The school board passed a rule last year that all head coaches have to be full time teachers. There are a lot of reasons and the red tape makes my brain hurt.” Kyle rolled his eyes as if the school board was more of an inconvenience than helpful.

 

“The point is, if we tried to put in one of the assistants, the school board could halt the season, postpone it, or even cancel it if we don’t follow the rules. Considering the kids did nothing wrong I don’t think that’s fair to them. Which brings us back to you.”

 

Jon’s brain was running a million miles a minute. He thought the meeting would be to talk about some disciplinary action, and instead he was being offered the chance at being a head coach; to lead a group of talented young guys to victory and to be in the spotlight again.

 

He wasn’t vain about wanting to receive attention,  but it was a chance to show his parents he was doing something right here at Richardson, and that even though he didn’t have superpowers, he could make a difference in his own way.

 

When he first announced his career choice, his parents were both very much against it. Lois, of course, was worried about Jon moving away from the family and being alone, especially given that he would have to handle the family secret and responsibilities by himself. Jon had tried to convince her that he would be fine, that it was healthy to branch away from your parents. 

 

Lois still worried.

 

Meanwhile, Clark was disappointed because being a teacher was about as different from the “family business” as possible. Jon had worked with Lara and been a lot of help at the Fortress over the years, which his dad had tried to remind him of. He encouraged Jon to maybe go down the engineering or mechanical route and settle down in Smallville; that was the last thing Jon wanted.

 

The truth was, after playing second fiddle to Jordan throughout high school and college, Jon needed to feel good at something again, to be important, and not just what was left over. 

 

And not just to be a part of a team, but the head coach? Well, that was a dream, a dream bigger than he had allowed himself in years.

 

“Well, Jon, what do you think? Many of the other teachers are bogged down with different projects. Plus, I’m told you built a great rapport with the team and really know what you’re doing. So what do you say? Do you wanna be the new head football coach at Richardson High School?”

 

After years of trying to find his place again, being smothered under his dad’s shadow and being the powerless, screw-up twin, Jonathan Kent finally had a shot to accomplish something worthwhile again.

 

 Sure, it would be hard work, and probably more challenging than anything he had ever taken on. There might be flack from the parents and coaches who didn’t think he was qualified. And his own parents probably wouldn’t like it.

 

Basically, there were a thousand reasons to say no. But at that moment, only one answer came out of his mouth.

 

“It would be an honor sir.”