Lovell has had its fair share of football success.
With a pair of championships to its name and a runner-up finish in Class 2A last year, the Bulldogs have a proud gridiron history.
And now, Lovell can also call itself the capital of high school football coaches in Wyoming.
Three Lovell alumni will be head coaches across the state this year — Nicc Crosby for his alma mater, Richard Despain at Rocky Mountain and Eli Moody at Cheyenne South.
With three alumni among Wyoming’s head football coaching ranks, Lovell can claim more than any other program.
While seven other schools (Campbell County, Cheyenne Central, Douglas, Green River, Hulett, Kelly Walsh and Wheatland) have two alumni leading up Wyoming high school football programs, no one can touch Lovell’s trio.
Here’s a quick glimpse of where Wyoming’s high school football coaches went to high school:
Crosby is one of 11 coaches who ply their trade at their alma mater. The others:
- Andrew Rose, Campbell County
- Mike Apodaca, Cheyenne Central
- Kevin Cuthbertson, Green River
- Patrick Sweeney, Worland
- Travis Romsa, Burns
- Jeromy Moffat, Big Piney
- Trent Aagard, Burlington
- Boz Backen, Hulett
- Dave Largent, Kaycee
- Jack Cobb, Snake River
Most Wyoming head football coaches come from Wyoming high schools, with 42 of the 64 coaches statewide graduating from in-state high schools. The count of 42 is up quite a bit from the total of 34 in 2018. Fifteen others come from bordering states, with Nebraska and Idaho (four each) the most popular. Coaches also hail from Montana and Utah (three apiece) and Colorado (one).
The remaining seven head coaches come from Washington (two) and New York, North Carolina, California, Maryland and Ohio (one each).
On the college level, though, only 19 coaches are graduates of the University of Wyoming. It’s still the most of any college, though, as Black Hills State claims nine alumni, and Chadron State has four.
Schools with two alumni among the ranks of Wyoming high school head football coaches include Sioux Falls, Montana State, Colorado Mesa, Weber State, Utah State, Southern Utah, Dakota Wesleyan and Dickinson State. Schools with a single alumnus are Augustana (South Dakota), Dana (Nebraska), Hiram (Ohio), Idaho State, Marist (New York), MSU-Billings, MSU-Northern, Montana-Western, Northern State, Tabor (Kansas), UNLV and Wayland Baptist (Texas). Four coaches statewide have not finished a bachelor’s degree.
–patrick