By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
After 13 seasons under the leadership of Doug Bonura, the Cair Paravel football program will have a new head coach. Longtime junior high coach Randall Bond will take over for the 2026 season, the school recently announced.
Longtime Cair Paravel Junior High football coach Randall Bond has been promoted to be the Lions' head coach for the 2026 season. [Photo by Jan Pabitzky]
The promotion of Bond to the varsity head coaching position ensures a high degree of familiarity and continuity. Bond has worked closely with Bonura over the years, installing the offensive and defensive systems run at the high school level and promoting similar character traits among the junior high players.
“I think it’s going to be a great transition, and I think he’s going to do a great job,” Bonura said of his successor. “He’s been around the game for a long time. He’s very personable. He loves the boys and really wants to help them grow and mature. The kids know him and trust him. It’s a great opportunity for him to become a head coach.”
Bond is a theatre and choir teacher at Seaman High School. He brings extensive experience to his new coaching position. Prior to joining the Cair Paravel football staff seven years ago, he coached junior high football at Holton for 14 years, where he collaborated with varsity head coach Brooks Barta, a former Kansas State star and son of Kansas coaching legend Roger Barta.
Bond said he is excited to build on the foundation laid by Bonura and to further the relationships he forged with the students as junior high head coach.
“I was lucky enough to coach up at Holton and you talk about a community that is invested in the kids,” Bond said. “It’s not the same here because we’re not a small town, but it has that feel. The parents are invested in the kids. They want what’s best for the kids, and this kind of culture is just hard to find. For me, it’s the best situation to come into. I’ve already coached most of the boys and it’s just a welcoming, supportive community.
“I’ve learned a ton from coach Bonura. He’s a phenomenal leader. He coaches and teaches the boys the right way, has super high expectations for both players and coaches.”
Bonura guided the program as it earned membership in KSHSAA and transitioned to two seasons of 11-man football. The team will return to the 8-man level for 2026. During Bonura’s tenure, the team won Kansas Christian Athletic Association championships in 2013 and 2021, the school’s last year prior to participation in the KSHSAA playoff system.
The decision to resign now was not easy for Bonura, who noted that the team returns a lot of talent for the upcoming season.
“When you have something that you’ve invested in for 13 years and you want to see it continue to grow, it was a very difficult decision for me,” Bonura said. “But I think it was the right decision at this time. And it helps for it to not become my idol. I don’t want it to become about me.”
Family was a motivator for Bonura to coach football at Cair Paravel, and it was a motivator to call it quits. His youngest son was a senior on the 2025 team.
“I have seven kids, so there is a lot of life going on outside of Cair Paravel for me. So, it was the right move for me to be able to do the things my family needs at this time,” Bonura said.
“When I started, I just wanted to have fun with my boys, giving them a chance to play football and to develop a program that honored the Lord and in which young men can learn how to grow up in a world that can be difficult. That’s what football teaches.”
Bonura recalled a situation early in his tenure that illustrated that character development. His team had its undefeated season interrupted by a 50-6 thumping at the hands of Heartland Christian School from Colby. The two teams met again in the playoffs.
“We had a real gut check,” Bonura said. “I told them, ‘You guys were scared.’ There were only 12 boys on that other team, but they were tough as nails. I challenged our guys, that ‘suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope’ from (the Biblical book of) Romans.”
In the rematch, Cair Paravel lost 62-58 in what Bonura calls one of the best games during his time at the school.
“Our boys really grew from that experience,” Bonura said. “And when I see those guys we still talk about that game. They knew that they fought back and weren’t afraid of those guys anymore.”
Bonura thanked Jeff Brown and Ron Thornburgh who coached the team prior to his assumption of head coaching duties for facilitating a smooth transition and laying a solid foundation. He also credited the assistant coaches who have been on his staff over the years.
“I’ve worked with great people along the way,” Bonura said. “Great men committed to help young men grow in their walk regardless of wins and losses. That’s hard to do, because you want to be successful in the wins column.”
Cair Paravel athletic director Gary Cleverdon said Bonura would not be easily replaced, but that the process that ultimately led to Bond’s promotion had been a positive one.
“Doug took over a program that was just getting started in the eyes of many. Football at this school was not the big item on the block,” said Cleverdon. “It was always more than just football for Doug. He put his blood, sweat and tears into it, every ounce he had. We would have loved to have him until he just couldn’t coach anymore. But he knew the time was right.
“Turning a program over to anyone else is going to be big shoes to fill. We feel like we have the right person who has been with Doug for many years. It’s been a fantastic transition so far and I think it’s going to be a really good situation.”
Bond called Bonura a ‘great offensive mind.’
“I learned a lot from him coming from Holton,” Bond said. “You know, if we passed four times a game at Holton it was probably too much. It was fun learning a very diverse offensive system here. Plus, I had never coached 8-man football before coming here. My first year I was getting used to the rules and how you could use players and the substitutions. It was very different for me. It was great to learn under Coach Bonura.”
The new football coach will have a tough time becoming the most successful “Coach Bond” at Cair Paravel. His wife, Courtney Bond, guides the cheerleading program that recently claimed its fourth state championship.
