When the 2017 season started, three schools had a chance to three-peat as state football champions.

Sheridan and Kaycee played up to the challenge, each going undefeated on their way to winning their respective titles — Sheridan in Class 4A, Kaycee in Class 1A six-man.

Star Valley did not. The Braves lost their first game of 2017 in the wrong spot, the Class 3A semifinals, and failed to win their third consecutive championship.

Historically speaking, though, Kaycee and Sheridan are the anomalies in three-peat attempts, not Star Valley.

Of the 46 teams in state history who have been in a position to win three consecutive championships (not including streaks of more than three), 19 succeeded like Kaycee and Sheridan did. But 27, like Star Valley, did not. That means just more than 41 percent of teams trying for a three-peat actually succeeded.

Some of those three-peat attempts came even closer than Star Valley’s did last year.

Of those 27 teams who failed to win their third consecutive championships, four teams reached the title game only to lose (Cheyenne Central in 1990, Star Valley in 1997, Lusk in 2001 and Snake River in 2012). Eight others lost in the semifinals, including three teams — Rocky Mountain in 1999, Cokeville in 2012 and Star Valley last year — who were undefeated until reaching the semis.

Seven of those 27 teams finished with one loss.

Granted, some teams rode a wave of great talent to repeat titles only to fall off quickly once that talent graduated — six teams who were trying to win their third consecutive title actually finished with losing records in their three-peat bid seasons. The steepest of those declines was in Green River, where the Wolves won the 1949 and 1950 Class A championships but went 1-8 in 1951. The most recent team to have this happen to them was Glenrock, which won titles in 2002-03 but had a losing record in 2004.

We know what happened to Sheridan, Kaycee and Star Valley in 2017; Pine Bluffs, the two-time defending Class 1A 11-man champion, will have a chance for a three-peat in 2018.

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Meanwhile, going from a three-peat to a four-peat — like Sheridan and Kaycee are trying to do in 2018 — is even more difficult than going from a repeat to a three-peat, with just more than 35 percent of four-peat attempts ending in success.

Of the 17 teams (so far) who have gone for a four-peat, six succeeded — Cokeville in 1989 and 1996, Sheridan in 1993, Southeast in 2009, and Worland in 1927 and 1955. But of the 11 who failed, all 11 finished with records of .500 or better the next season, and three teams (Byron in 1959, Cokeville in 2004 and Douglas in 2011) saw their four-peat attempts end in state title games.

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When the 2018 season starts, three schools have a chance to continue the championship streaks they’ve already begun.

While past success definitely helps future success, as we can see, a winning streak comes with no guarantees of continuation.

The challenges Sheridan, Kaycee and Pine Bluffs will face go beyond the history of other programs at other times. Nevertheless, one way or another, their attempts at titles this year will be interesting to see unfold, especially under the context of past successes.

–patrick

After seven seasons as Green River’s head coach, Don Maggi has resigned.

The resignation was first reported by KUGR Radio’s Steve Core on Facebook.

Core reported that Maggi does plan to stay on in Green River as a teacher. Maggi teaches social studies at Green River High School.

The Wolves went 38-31 under Maggi, reaching the Class 3A semifinals in five of his seven years and finishing as runners-up in 2015. The Wolves went 7-3 last season, losing to Torrington 17-13 in the 3A semifinals.

Maggi was previously the offensive coordinator at Natrona.

Maggi is the sixth head coach in the state to resign after the 2017 season, along with coaches at WheatlandSheridanCheyenne CentralLander and Lovell. If you know of other coaches who will not return in 2018, please email pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

Wheatland’s head coach has resigned after two years to spend more time with his family.

Tom Waring, who led Wheatland to the Class 2A semifinals this year, resigned in mid-November. He verified his resignation via email Wednesday with wyoming-football.com.

Waring said his daughter is beginning junior high sports this year, and he wants to spend time supporting her efforts.

It was a difficult decision because I love coaching these guys, and I love football,” Waring wrote. “But, I do preach to my players that football should never be number one on your list of priorities. I tell them family always comes first, so basically I am just taking my own advice.”

Waring went a combined 9-10 in his two seasons with the Bulldogs, including 5-5 in 2017.

Waring previously coached at Rawlins in 2013 and, prior to that, Hanna from 2009-12.

A replacement in Wheatland has not yet been named.

Waring is the fifth head coach in the state to resign after the 2017 season, along with Sheridan’s Don Julian, Cheyenne Central’s Drew Severn, Lander’s John Rounds and Lovell’s Doug Hazen.

–patrick

After 20 years as a head football coach, Don Julian has stepped down as the head coach at Sheridan.

He leaves the Broncs after leading them to three consecutive state titles and, at the moment, 18 consecutive victories. He also led Sheridan to titles in 2009 and 2011.

Prior to coaching Sheridan, Julian coached at Riverton from 1993-2001, leading the Wolverines to championships in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999. In between Riverton and Sheridan, Julian coached at the University of Wyoming before becoming director of football operations and later an assistant athletic director at UW; he returned to the prep ranks in 2007 when he took over the Sheridan program.

Julian said he resigned to spend time with his parents on their ranch near Kemmerer, close to where Julian was raised.

His affect on the record books — as well as on the lives of the countless players who learned under his tutelage — is difficult to illustrate. But here are some examples in an attempt to do just that:

  • He has more victories (102) than any other coach in Sheridan program history. He also has more victories (63) than any other coach in Riverton program history.
  • His career total of 165 victories places him sixth all-time and third among active coaches in the state. Of the 34 Wyoming coaches with at least 90 in-state victories, Julian’s winning percentage of .789 is second only to Cokeville’s Todd Dayton.
  • His nine state championships ranks third all-time in Wyoming.
  • He led Riverton to 26 consecutive victories from 1997-99, tied for the eighth-longest streak in state history.
  • Maybe most impressively, he never had a losing season in 20 years as a head coach in Wyoming.

Julian’s retirement drew immediate attention online as numerous people paid their respect:

–patrick

Marty Wrage of Greybull and McKay Young of Star Valley will be the head coaches for the 45th annual Shrine Bowl all-star football game.

Wrage will coach the North squad while Young will coach the South, Shrine Bowl executive director John Cundall said in an email release Monday.

Wrage recently finished his fourth season as the head coach at Greybull. His team finished as the Class 2A runners-up in 2016 and went 5-4 in 2017.

Young just wrapped up his second year leading Star Valley. The Braves won the Class 3A title in his first year in 2016 and finished 10-1 before losing in the 3A semifinals to eventual champ Cody in this year’s 3A playoffs.

Both coaches will be Shrine Bowl head coaches for the first time.

The game will be played June 9, 2018, in Casper. The North leads the all-time series 23-18-3. The North has won five consecutive Shrine Bowls, including last year’s 49-7 victory.

–patrick

Cheyenne Central head coach Drew Severn has resigned after four years as the Indians’ head coach.

The news of Severn’s resignation was reported by Jeremiah Johnke at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne. Johnke said Severn — who played at the University of Wyoming from 2002-05 — resigned to take a different job in Michigan.

In his four years as head coach, Severn’s Indian teams went a combined 10-28. They reached the playoffs in his first year (2014) and last year (2017).

A replacement has not yet been named.

Severn is the third Wyoming coach to step down this offseason, joining Lander’s John Rounds and Lovell’s Doug Hazen.

–patrick