Rhett Pearson never has to go far to find some football.

Every morning, he wakes up and finds it right in his own living room.

“Go downstairs, there’s football on TV. I mean, it’s football 24-7,” he said.

That’s the benefit of having your dad (Ryan) as your head football coach and the Princeton senior lineman and captain takes full advantage.

“It’s nice. If you ever have a question or curious about something you’ve got a pretty good source in your living room. I love it,” he said.

Pearson said his father fills both roles as dad and coach well.

“He’s dad until you pull up Hudl and you’re watching film. Then he’s coach,” Pearson said. “We have a great father-son relationship. He’s a great dad and a great coach. I get the both of both worlds for sure.”

It also helps that the coach was a pretty good player himself at his same position, a lineman for Stark County’s 1997 Class A state runner-up team and a four-year player at Monmouth College.

“He played at Monmouth for four years and was a pretty good player. Just technique wise, he’s always got tips and stuff like that and how I can get better,” Pearson said.

Coach Pearson enjoys the football huddles at home.

“Lots of times we go home and have our own chalkboard and he’s got questions for me. That part is really cool,” he said.

Over the Fourth of July break, however, the coach surprised his son when he unplugged from football.

“I said, ‘Son, I love you but no football. This is my week to decompress. This is the Fourth of July. I want this to be 100% family and will go back to football on Monday.’ He said, ‘Are you feeling OK?’” Coach Pearson said with a laugh. “You have to balance family and what we do out here. He was taken aback and said, ‘OK. I guess I’ll save my questions for Monday.’ But outside of this, there’s football all the time.”

Football came naturally at a young age for Rhett Pearson, who will be a third-year starter for the Tigers this fall, transitioning from center to offensive guard.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” he said. “I’d say the second I turned 5 started playing flag football. Started playing tackle football at Stark County in third grade. Ever since I was a kid I loved it for sure.”

Is the coach harder on him than the other players?

“I feel like that. He won’t admit it, but I think he is,” Pearson said. “You’ve got a senior D lineman and O Lineman in your house, you might as well be a little harder on them to get them better.

Rhett Pearson, who sat out Week 2 with an injury, is one of six captains for the Tigers this fall and he’s looking forward to growing into that role.

“It’s crazy. When I was the freshman coming in, Teegan (Davis) and those guys were the guys I was looking up at,” he said. “Definitely pretty cool to be in the position they once were. Yeah, I’m just excited to teach the young guys how to be successful and how to fit in the Tiger program.”

He said Davis, an all-state quarterback for the Tigers who went on to the University of Iowa, was a leader in many ways.

“I’d say the main thing Teegan taught was how to lead by example,” he said. “You can say all the right things, but if you’re not practicing all the things you’re preaching, no one’s going to listen. Doing all the things, on and off the field, are definitely what I learned from Teegan.”

It’s already hitting at home for coach Pearson that his oldest son is going to be a senior.

“The dynamic of being a dad is different for me,” Ryan Pearson said. “I’ve always known this day was coming. Going into what year 25 for me, that eventually, I’d coach my son as a senior. And this year is a little different because it will be the only year I coach two boys with Reese being a freshman. It’s a little bit surreal. It really is.

“I’m so excited for him. I know how much time and effort he puts in. I see the behind-the-scenes things he does that many people don’t. He’s just very disciplined with his life to be honest. I’m completely proud how he’s carried himself. He’s a great ambassador what we want our kids to be. It brings a sense of finality that this is his last hurrah.”

With the loss of four-year stalwart Cade Odell, now playing for Dordt University, Rhett Pearson knows his presence on the Tiger line will magnify this fall.

“Next guy up mentality. He’s gone. So somebody’s got to fill that role and I don’t see why I can’t do it,” he said.

The Tigers captain wants to play football in college and has made visits to Dubuque, Monmouth, Concordia-Wisconson, Cornell, Knox and St. Ambrose.

And then he’ll have to do his chalkboard with his dad by Zoom.