Former Worland coach Curt Mayer pulled a surprising move late last week by resigning as the Warriors’ coach less than 48 hours prior to the first practice.
Since that time, the school has announced it will use two head coaches this year, with Josh Garcia leading the offense and Bryan Bailey the defense. Neither man has been a head coach in the state before this year.
More than that, they’re together in a co-coaching arrangement that has only been tried nine other times (as documented so far) in Wyoming’s history.
Here is a brief look at how the other nine co-coaching arrangements came out
Pinedale: Perhaps the most successful co-coaching arrangement came with the the Wranglers, where Gale Tuggle and Randy Klatt co-led the team for eight seasons, from 1965-72. The Wranglers were mythical state Class B champions in 1970 under the two-coach system. Together over the eight seasons, the coaches went a combined 36-30-3, including an 8-1 season in 1972 in what ended up being the final head coaching stop in Wyoming for either coach.
Buffalo: Harvey Crowe and George Grace were co-coaches in Buffalo for four years, from 1951-54. Crowe had been the sole head coach in Buffalo for three seasons (1948-50) before Grace joined him; Grace took sole control of the Buffalo program in 1955 and was head coach until 1967. Perhaps not coincidentally, Crowe took over another Northeast Conference team — Sundance — as head coach in 1956, a position he held until after the 1958 season. Together in Buffalo, they went 16-15-4.
Wind River: The most recent case of co-coaches came in 2005, when Tyler Jordan and Andy Maendl co-coached the Cougars to a playoff berth and a 4-5 record. Jordan took over as the lone head coach in 2006 and led the team through 2007. Maendl has yet to return to a head coaching position in the state.
Basin: For the Bobcats’ first season of football, 1921, the team used two head coaches: F.L. McNown and coach Kischke (first name unknown). Neither one was ever a head coach in the state after the first season, even though the Bobcats went 5-4 their first season.
Manderson: William Diercks had an odd timeline with the Demons, leading the team as head coach from 1956-58, again in 1966 and then one last time in 1974. In that 1966 season, he was joined by Tom Rhodes in a one-year co-coach situation, but it didn’t go well; the team went 0-8 and neither coach retained the head coaching position the following season.
Big Horn: Brothers John Flanagan and Mike Flanagan co-coached the Rams for two seasons, 1961 (0-4-2) and 1962 (0-5). Those two years were the only years either one was a head coach in Wyoming.
North Big Horn: Steve Hutchinson was the lone head coach for NBH in 1979, but in 1980, he was joined by co-coach Michael Neville. Despite going 4-3, neither man was the head coach for the Grizzlies in 1981, and neither landed a head coaching spot in the state again.
St. Stephens: Jim Shelbe and Chris Kriofski co-coached the Eagles in 1965, their final year of their first stint of varsity play. The team went 2-4. It was both the first and last year for either man as a head coach in Wyoming.
University Prep: Don Harkins and Bill Engstrom joined forces to coach the Buckaroos in 1929, going 4-3 together. Although Harkins was never a head coach again, Engstrom had a long stint as Rawlins’ coach, jumping from Prep to lead the Outlaws for eight years from 1930 to 1937.
(I’m still missing some information on Wyoming high school football coaches. To help, check out The Coaches Project and post a comment below if you can help.)
Co-coaching arrangements in Wyoming have been surprisingly average at best. How do you think the unique situation in Worland will work this year? Feel free to post a comment below.
–patrick