No matter our profession, we have people we chase — the people we respect because of their work in our shared field, the people whose successes we wish to emulate. That goes for high school football coaches as much as it does bankers, doctors or engineers.
When victories are used as the measuring stick of success, we know that we have the most successful football coach in state history currently working in Cokeville. We know the coach whose mark he had to beat in order to earn the title he now has.
But who did he have to overtake? And who did he have to overtake? And who did he have to overtake?
Here is a look at the coaches with the most victories in state history — and who they had to chase down in order to be known as such:
The current leader is Todd Dayton, the coach at Cokeville, who entered the 2011 season with 253 career victories. Dayton, who took over as the Panthers’ head coach in 1980, has averaged more than eight victories per season — a heck of a feat when you consider that, for a lot of Dayton’s career, the regular season in Wyoming was only seven or eight games.
The game he took over as Wyoming’s coaching victories leader: Cokeville defeated Mountain View 30-26 on Sept. 23, 2005, to give Dayton his 206th career victory.
Dayton had to overtake John E. Deti, who piled up 205 victories in 35 years as a head coach, 33 with Laramie. Deti also spent a year in both Meeteetse and Shoshoni. He retired in 1976 with a 205-94-8 career record. His tenure at Laramie included seven undefeated seasons (the Plainsmen have only had two other undefeated seasons in school history) and 14 state championships.
The game he took over as Wyoming’s coaching victories leader: Laramie defeated Sheridan 20-7 on Nov. 1, 1968, to give Deti his 150th career victory.
Deti had to overtake Okie Blanchard, who had 149 victories at five different schools. Blanchard, the first coach in the state to crack the 100-victory mark (and he obviously went well beyond that), spent 11 years at Cheyenne Central, eight years at Rock Springs, three years at Natrona and one year each at Glenrock and Cokeville. He was also head coach at the University of Wyoming for the 1941 season. He started his career with the Herders in 1925; he stepped away from coaching in 1952 with an all-time high school record of 149-55-7.
The game he took over as Wyoming’s coaching victories leader: Cheyenne Central defeated Alliance, Neb., 26-7 on Oct. 15, 1943, to give Blanchard his 95th career victory.
Blanchard had to overtake John Powell, the longtime coach at Cheyenne Central who notched 94 victories with the Indians before retiring in 1939. Powell led the Indian squad for 16 years, compiling a 94-50-7 record. His run with the red and black included one unofficial state championship, which came in 1929, and only two losing seasons.
The game he took over as Wyoming’s coaching victories leader: Cheyenne Central defeated Laramie 12-0 on Nov. 12, 1929, to give Powell his 41st career victory.
Powell had to overtake Wilbur “Web” Wright, who coached Sheridan for eight seasons and finished with 40 victories. Wright led the Broncs from 1919 to 1926, finishing with a record of 40-15-2; Wright’s run included three consecutive state championships from 1921-23 and undefeated seasons in 1921 (7-0) and 1923 (8-0).
The game he took over as Wyoming’s coaching victories leader: Sheridan defeated Buffalo 58-0 on Oct. 29, 1921, to give Wright his 12th career victory.
Wright had to overtake C.A. Jones, the first high school coach in Wyoming to win more than 10 games in his career. Jones finished his brief coaching career, which spanned three seasons (1912-14) with Cheyenne Central, with 11 victories; his overall record with the Indians was 11-8-2.
Coaching records prior to this time are spotty at best. I doubt anyone was even thinking about career records when Jones, Wright or Powell took the reins at their respective schools. They may not have even known at the time they were the most successful coaches in state history when they decided to step down.
We know differently now. We know that, even for a while, they were the coaches everyone was trying to chase down.
–patrick