Head coaches honored Friday night

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Prior to Friday night’s football game against Defiance, a special ceremony was held to celebrate 90 years of Van Wert football being played at Eggerss Stadium.

The game was exactly 90 years to the day when the first game was played at the downtown stadium. On September 18, 1936, Van Wert defeated Fort Wayne South 12-0.

During a special pregame ceremony, donors and contractors involved with the major stadium renovation project were honored on the field, along with past coaches. Here is the list of Van Wert High School football coaches through the years:

• Ralph Richison (1910-1912), seven wins, eight losses, two ties
• Earl Hall (1913-1917), 19 wins, 12 losses, four ties
• David Clark (1918), four wins, four losses, one tie
• Charles Moser (1919-1920), four wins, 10 losses, three ties
• John Smith (1921), two wins, four losses, one tie
• Robert Moore (1922-1925), 24 wins, 15 losses, two ties
• Ralph McGinnis (1926-1927), eight wins, eight losses, two ties
• Weeb Ewbank (1928-1929), three wins, 14 losses, two ties
• Glenn Livingston (1930-1935), 24 wins, 25 losses, six ties
• Charles Campbell (1936-1940), 33 wins, 10 losses, four ties
• Gil Smith (1941-1959), 129 wins, 30 losses, 10 ties
• Otis Coon (1960-1964), 24 wins, 24 losses, one tie
• Clyde Benninghoff (1965-1969), 30 wins, 17 losses, three ties
• Earl Fry (1970-1972), 12 wins, 17 losses, one tie
• James Hamman (1973-1976), 16 wins, 23 losses, one tie
• Charles Steele (1977), two wins, eight losses
• Robert Edinger (1978-1981), 17 wins, 22 losses, one tie
• Jerry Buti (1982-1988), 42 wins, 29 losses, one tie
• Tim Hinton (1989), five wins, five losses
• Kent Smelser (1990-1995), 24 wins, 36 losses
• Jeff Hood (1996-2006), 53 wins, 62 losses
• Robert Priest (2007-2011), 16 wins, 34 losses
• Keith Recker (2012-present), 83 wins, 72 losses

Notes

Tie games were not uncommon from the early part of the 20th century through the 1950s.

Weeb Ewbank (1929-1930) led the New York Jets to a championship in Super Bowl III. It was the first AFL team, as it was know then, to win the game, which was previously known as the NFL-AFL World Championship Game.

For whatever reason, there were five different head coaches from 1920-1929.

Of the 23 head coaches, five won Western Buckeye League championships. The first was Glenn Livingston (1932, 1935). Charles Campbell won four straight WBL championships in 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939. Gil Smith won WBL titles in 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958. Clyde Benninghoff coached two teams to WBL titles, in 1967 and 1969. Jerry Buti’s 1987 team won the WBL championship and Keith Recker’s 2021 team won the WBL title.

At one point, Gil Smith’s teams won 47 straight games. There were no playoffs back then, so the 47 wins came over the span of multiple regular seasons.

Jerry Buti led the Cougars to the playoffs for the first time in 1985, then again in 1986.

Jeff Hood led Van Wert to the playoffs in 2000 and the Cougars finished as the Division III runner-up.

Keith Recker has more playoff appearances than any coach, with berths in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 an 2023. His 2020 team won the Division IV state championship.