State championship coaches: The most, and the most diverse

Any Wyoming high school football fan who has more than just a passing interest in the history of the sport in the state knows that Wyoming’s all-time winningest coach is current Cokeville coach Todd Dayton, who has 263 career victories.

But another record Dayton holds has gone less heralded — he also holds the Wyoming record for most state championships, with 18. In a 33-year career (so far), that’s not a bad ratio.

I recently compiled a list of Wyoming coaches with the most state championships (both official and unofficial). The coaches that have at least four titles are listed in order below:

18 titles, Todd Dayton, Cokeville
14 titles, John E. Deti (John Sr.), Laramie
7 titles, Mark Bullington, Southeast; and Okie Blanchard, Cheyenne Central (4), Natrona (2) and Rock Springs (1)
6 titles, Bruce Keith, Sheridan; Don Julian, between Riverton (4) and Sheridan (2); and Joel Eskelsen, Big Piney.
5 titles, Carl Selmer, Worland; and Jerry Fullmer, Lusk.
4 titles, shared by nine coaches (Ben Smith, Carl Rollins, Fred Chez, Jim McLeod, John Scott, Lew Kelly, Robert Linford, Steve Harshman, Walter Gray).

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While compiling the above list, I also put together another, shorter list — the list of coaches who have won championships at more than one Wyoming high school.

The leader of that pack is Okie Blanchard, who, as noted above, won seven total championships at three different schools. He won four titles with Cheyenne Central, two with Natrona and one with Rock Springs. He is also the only coach to win state football titles at three different Wyoming high schools.

In all, only seven coaches in state history have pulled off the double-championship feat. Other coaches who have won state titles with two different schools include:

Don Julian, 6 total: 4 with Riverton, 2 with Sheridan
John Scott, 4 total: 2 with Gillette, 2 with Kemmerer
Kay Fackrell, 3 total: 2 with Evanston, 1 with Lyman
Al Peyton, 2 total: 1 with Shoshoni, 1 with Tongue River
Eddie Talboom, 2 total: 1 with Evanston, 1 with Rock Springs
Walter Dowler, 2 total: 1 with Cheyenne Central, 1 with Rock Springs

And that’s what I’ve got for you today….

–patrick