Typical head coach span for Wyoming high school football programs

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