Typical head coach span for Wyoming high school football programs

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This fall, 12 Wyoming high school football programs will start their seasons with new coaches.

How long those coaches stay may be tied to the program they’re leading.

Programs taking to the field with new coaches in 2016 — so far — include Cheyenne South in Class 4A; Star Valley in Class 3A; Pinedale, Thermopolis and Wheatland in Class 2A; Rocky Mountain and Saratoga in Class 1A 11-man; and Burlington, Guernsey-Sunrise, Lingle, Rock River and Ten Sleep in Class 1A six-man.

The least surprising of these is Burlington; throughout their program history, the Huskies average a new coach every two and a half years. Burlington’s turnover rate — 28 head coaches in 69 years, through last season — is among the highest coaching turnover rates in the state. In fact, it’s second-highest among programs that have existed for more than 20 years, second only to nearby Meeteetse, which averages a new head coach once every 2.3 years.

The most surprising change based on expected coaching span is at Star Valley, which is 16th in the state with an average head coaching span of 4.8 years per coach, through last season.

The average Wyoming head football coach lasts 3.8 years. Some schools have an average coaching tenure significantly greater than that: Southeast has had only two coaches in its 39-year history, an average of 19.5 years per coach. Cokeville, with an average stay of 7.3 years per head coach, comes in second.

The schools that tend to have the shortest coaching tenures are also programs that haven’t been around long. The programs tied for the shortest average coaching tenures, Rock River and St. Stephens, average one new coach every two years. St. Stephens has had six coaches in its 12 years of existence, while Rock River has had just one in its two years.

Of the 12 programs with new coaches this year, seven programs fall below the average span of 3.8 years. Cheyenne South will fall below the average after this season begins.

Here’s a breakdown of the average tenure length per coach of Wyoming high school football programs, based on the number of years where the head coach is known and the number of coaches in that span. This list goes through 2015 and does not include coaches who will be new in 2016; it also includes both Upton and Sundance as separate programs as well as the Upton-Sundance co-op. From longest to shortest span:

  1. Southeast (19.5 years average span, 2 coaches in 39 years)
  2. Cokeville (7.3, 10 in 73)
  3. Buffalo (6.5, 15 in 98)
  4. Upton (6.4, 12 in 77)
  5. Wright (6.4, 5 in 32)
  6. Burns (6.1, 8 in 49)
  7. Tongue River (5.9, 10 in 59)
  8. Dubois (5.9, 8 in 47)
  9. Midwest (5.8, 15 in 87)
  10. Natrona (5.6, 18 in 100)
  11. Laramie (5.4, 19 in 103)
  12. Kelly Walsh (5.1, 10 in 51)
  13. Cheyenne East (5.1, 11 in 56)
  14. Cheyenne South (5, 1 in 5)
  15. Cody (5, 19 in 95)
  16. Star Valley (4.8, 18 in 87)
  17. Cheyenne Central (4.7, 23 in 109)
  18. Douglas (4.6, 21 in 96)
  19. Sheridan (4.6, 23 in 105)
  20. Guernsey-Sunrise (4.4, 12 in 53)
  21. Pine Bluffs (4.3, 18 in 77)
  22. Rock Springs (4.3, 22 in 94)
  23. Glenrock (4.3, 19 in 81)
  24. Big Horn (4.2, 17 in 72)
  25. Moorcroft (4.2, 15 in 63)
  26. Riverside (4.1, 7 in 29)
  27. Lusk (4.1, 22 in 91)
  28. Pinedale (4.1, 19 in 77)
  29. Saratoga (4, 16 in 64)
  30. Upton-Sundance (4, 1 in 4)
  31. Hulett (3.8, 16 in 61)
  32. Torrington (3.8, 25 in 95)
  33. Lyman (3.8, 19 in 72)
  34. Powell (3.8, 25 in 94)
  35. Rawlins (3.7, 25 in 92)
  36. Thermopolis (3.7, 26 in 95)
  37. Evanston (3.6, 25 in 90)
  38. Green River (3.6, 26 in 93)
  39. Lingle (3.5, 24 in 85)
  40. Kaycee (3.5, 2 in 7)
  41. Shoshoni (3.4, 22 in 75)
  42. Mountain View (3.4, 18 in 61)
  43. Wheatland (3.4, 28 in 94)
  44. Wind River (3.3, 14 in 47)
  45. Rocky Mountain (3.3, 10 in 33)
  46. Sundance (3.3, 27 in 88)
  47. Lovell (3.2, 29 in 94)
  48. Newcastle (3.2, 29 in 93)
  49. Riverton (3.2, 29 in 92)
  50. Big Piney (3.2, 24 in 76)
  51. Gillette (3.2, 30 in 95)
  52. Ten Sleep (3.2, 18 in 57)
  53. Wyoming Indian (3.1, 14 in 44)
  54. Hanna (3.1, 25 in 78)
  55. Kemmerer (3.1, 29 in 90)
  56. Lander (3, 32 in 95)
  57. Worland (2.9, 32 in 94)
  58. Jackson (2.8, 29 in 82)
  59. Snake River (2.8, 5 in 14)
  60. Greybull (2.5, 37 in 92)
  61. Burlington (2.5, 28 in 69)
  62. Meeteetse (2.3, 33 in 76)
  63. NSI (2.3, 7 in 16)
  64. Farson (2.2, 6 in 13)
  65. St. Stephens (2, 6 in 12)
  66. Rock River (2, 1 in 2)

–patrick

Guernsey-Sunrise tabs Cook to fill head coach’s position

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Curtis Cook, who has been an assistant coach the past five years at Guernsey-Sunrise, will be the Vikings’ head coach starting this fall.

Platte County School District No. 2 approved Cook’s hiring this week, Cook said via email to wyoming-football.com.

Cook will replace Chris Link, who resigned. Cook is also the technology coordinator for Guernsey’s school and has also been an assistant basketball coach for the Vikings.

–patrick

Playoff records for Wyoming high school football coaches

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A quick little tally I put together: Wyoming high school football coaches with at least 10 playoff wins entering the 2016 season. It’s no surprise to see Cokeville coach Todd Dayton at the top; however, the fact that he has more than twice as many victories as the coach in the second spot, Southeast’s Mark Bullington, is another testament to both Dayton’s skill and longevity.

In all, 29 coaches have at least 10 playoff victories. Of those 29, only one has a losing record in playoff games.

The list below includes the coaches, the schools they took to the playoffs at least once, and their overall playoff record:

1. Todd Dayton, Cokeville, 67-13
2. Mark Bullington, Southeast, 33-8
3. Steve Harshman, Natrona, 29-19
4. Jerry Fullmer, Lusk, 25-8
5. Joel Eskelsen, Big Piney, 24-14
6. Don Julian, Riverton/Sheridan, 23-9
7. (tie) John Scott, Kemmerer/Gillette/Tongue River, 20-7
7. (tie) Ray Kumpula, Glenrock, 20-10
9. (tie) Jay Rhoades, Douglas, 18-7
9. (tie) Ben Smith, Rocky Mountain, 18-8
9. (tie) Vic Wilkerson, Gillette, 18-10
9. (tie) Don Dinnel, Mountain View/Rawlins/Evanston, 18-12
13. Pat Lynch, Buffalo, 17-11
14. (tie) Bruce Keith, Sheridan/Kelly Walsh, 15-3
14. (tie) Chad Goff, Cheyenne East, 15-7
16. (tie) Jim Stringer, Powell, 14-5
16. (tie) John R. Deti, Laramie, 14-14
18. (tie) Robert Linford, Star Valley, 13-6
18. (tie) Mike Moon, Buffalo, 13-10
18. (tie) Bert Dow, Sheridan/Big Horn, 13-10
21. Bobby St. John, Big Horn, 12-5
22. (tie) Matt VandeBossche, Lusk, 11-9
22. (tie) Carl Selmer, Worland, 11-1
22. (tie) Michael McGuire, Riverside/Big Horn, 11-6
25. (tie) Mike Bates, Snake River, 10-5
25. (tie) Wade Sanford, Worland, 10-6
25. (tie) Andy Garland, Upton/Upton-Sundance, 10-7
25. (tie) Kay Fackrell, Lyman/Evanston, 10-9
25. (tie) Brick Cegelski, Cheyenne Central, 10-15

–patrick

Updates: Mountain View, Cokeville, Kelly Walsh, Douglas, St. Mary’s, Glendo, Guernsey, Rawlins

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Thanks to friend of the site Jim Craig and his sleuthing, I’ve been able to make the following updates to the site:

Added standings for 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960 and 1959.

Added the score and corrected the date for Mountain View’s 19-0 victory against Cokeville on Sept. 24, 1964.

Added the score for Glendo’s 33-7 victory against Guernsey on Sept. 18, 1959. (Glenn Freeburg in Guernsey was helpful in finding this score. Thanks!)

Fixed the score for Douglas’ 13-6 victory against St. Mary’s on Oct. 3, 1959. (I had St. Mary’s winning by the same score.)

Updated Mark Smith’s name for Kelly Walsh on the 1972 Class AA all-state team; I had noted a “Smith” as an all-state pick but did not have his first name or his school.

Added Woodie Lawson’s name to the 1959 Class AA all-state team for Rawlins; I had noted a Rawlins selection, but the player’s name was illegible on my copy of that all-state team.

Corrected the spelling for Pavillion’s coach for 1959: It was Lee Dobyn, not Dobyns.

All the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

Reese resigns head football coach spot at Rock River

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The only varsity football coach Rock River has ever known has stepped down.

Terrance Reese resigned as Rock River’s football coach late last week. Reese and Rock River Principal Wade Fiscus verified the resignation in emails to wyoming-football.com.

Reese led Rock River for its first two varsity seasons, finishing 1-6 each season.

Reese cited the desire to spend more time with his three children, the travel distance between his home in Laramie and his coaching responsibilities in Rock River, and the time commitment of pursuing a master’s degree as reasons for stepping down.

“I hope a position in football opens in the near future because I love a challenge and being head coach at the smallest and newest football program in state was definitely that,” Reese wrote. “But at this time it is in the best interest of my family to be a father and husband and take care of the responsibilities that the Lord blessed me with.”

Fiscus said a replacement has not yet been named.

–patrick

Saratoga hires Willford to head coach position

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Saratoga has named Kegan Willford as its new football coach, the Saratoga Sun reported.

Willford replaces Scott Bokelman, who was the Panthers’ head coach for six seasons.

Willford teaches social studies in Encampment and coaches the Encampment high school track and junior high girls basketball teams; Encampment and Saratoga have long had a football co-op agreement. He is a Saratoga native who was an all-state and Shrine Bowl selection as a high school football plaer; he graduated from SHS in 2003.

Willford is the son of former Saratoga coach Burt Willford, who was the Panthers’ head coach from 1992-2002.

Bokelman went 16-33 in six seasons as head coach and took the Panthers to the playoffs in 2011.

–patrick

McPhie named new head coach in Thermopolis

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Thermopolis has hired Matt McPhie to be its new head football coach.

McPhee and Thermopolis AD Brandon Deromedi both verified the hire via email to wyoming-football.com on Tuesday. McPhie replaces Rob Anderson, who resigned both his teaching and coaching positions, Deromedi said. Anderson had also previously been Thermopolis’ girls basketball coach.

McPhie has been a coach at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the past two years, with the 2014 season spent as running backs coach and 2015 as wide receivers coach; he also coached wide receivers and tight ends at Augustana in the 1997 season. McPhie was an honorable mention all-America wide receiver at Augustana in 1996. His full bio is available at the bottom of the page here.

Anderson went 13-15 in three years as head coach. Thermopolis qualified for the playoffs in each of Anderson’s three years and reached the Class 2A semifinals in 2013. Anderson will be the head football coach at Filer (Idaho) this fall.

–patrick

Post updated 12:55 p.m. July 8 to reflect Anderson’s new position.

Trent Aagard named new coach at Burlington

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Trent Aagard will be the new head coach at Burlington this fall.

Aagard, who was an assistant coach with the Huskies for the past three years, verified the change via email this week with wyoming-football.com. He takes over for Aaron Papich, who led the Huskies for the 2015 season.

Aagard is a Burlington native and the younger brother of former Burlington head coach Mike Aagard.

Papich went 4-2 with the Huskies in six-man exhibition games. Burlington forfeited its 11-man season after its Week 1 loss to Lusk and played a patchwork six-man schedule instead. Burlington officially moves into the six-man classification this season and will be in the West Conference.

–patrick

Zent retakes helm at Ten Sleep

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Jake Zent will again be the head football coach at Ten Sleep.

Ten Sleep principal and athletic director Russ Budmayr affirmed the hiring to wyoming-football.com on Friday via email.

Zent was the Pioneers’ head coach for six years, from 2007-12, leading the team to a 21-23 record, including a trip to the six-man semifinals in 2010. He takes over for Andy Ray, who had led the team since 2013 but resigned under pressure in April.

–patrick

Wheatland starts repeat 2A title bid with new head coach

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Defending Class 2A champion Wheatland will have a new coach leading its title defense this fall.

Tom Waring, who has previously coached in Rawlins and Hanna, will take over as head coach of the Bulldogs this fall. He takes over for Dusty Hudson, who made a big impression in two years in Platte County.

Waring and Wheatland AD Josh Sandlian verified the hiring via emails to wyoming-football.com.

In 2015, Hudson led Wheatland to a program-record 10 victories and a Class 2A championship, the program’s second state championship and first since 1984. In his two years as head coach, Wheatland went 17-4. He left Wheatland to take a teaching position in Casper, Sandlian said.

Waring was the head coach at Hanna from 2009-12 and at Rawlins in 2013. He compiled a 16-22 record at Hanna and was 1-7 in his only year at Rawlins. More recently, he has been the principal at the K-12 school in Chugwater. Waring said he plans on remaining at Chugwater while he coaches at Wheatland.

Wheatland is the second defending state champion that will take the field in 2016 with a new coach. Class 3A champ Star Valley hired McKay Young as its new head coach in March.

–patrick