Who are central Ohio's new high school football coaches for the 2024 season?
There was a bit less turnover in the high school football coaching ranks this past offseason than last, but not by much.
Fifteen coaches, some of them familiar faces through their previous head or assistant positions, enter their first season in charge of their respective programs once preseason practice begins Aug. 1. The 2024 season kicks off the weekend of Aug. 22-24.
Central Ohio had 18 new head coaches a season ago.
Here is a look at all 15:
JoJuan Armour, Reynoldsburg
A two-time Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Miami University and third-team All-American linebacker in 1998, Armour takes over a Raiders program that won four games in two seasons under Mark Philmore. Armour, a graduate of Toledo Central Catholic, also played in the NFL and Canadian Football League and won a Grey Cup with Calgary in 2008.
Armour is an education consultant in the Reynoldsburg district.
Philmore’s position as academic success coach at Reynoldsburg was eliminated after this past school year.
Stephen Ayers, Beechcroft
A former Brookhaven and Bowling Green player and longtime assistant with stints at his alma mater (1996-2013), Walnut Ridge (2014-21), Reynoldsburg (2022) and Africentric (2023), Ayers was hired in February to succeed Humphrey Simmons. Ayers also has coached track and field and wrestling at Walnut Ridge since 2015.
Beechcroft (4-7, 4-2 City League-North in 2023) won its league in 2021 and tied for first in 2022.
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Tyler Brown, Lakewood
A math teacher at Lakewood who coached quarterbacks and defensive backs for the Lancers last season, Brown takes over a program that has not had a winning season since 2001, the first time it made the playoffs. The other time was in 2020, when all teams were eligible.
Brown has coached football for 24 years and recently spent time as an assistant at Granville and Thomas Worthington.
Eric Calland, Westerville South
Calland was hired to take over at his alma mater in January after nine seasons as an assistant. The 2003 graduate served most recently as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Calland, who succeeded Matthew Christ, played defensive end at South and Capital University and also had stints as an assistant at Bellville Clear Fork and Worthington Kilbourne.
Dave Carroll, Fairbanks
The longtime Clear Fork coach returned to the sidelines in January, succeeding Patrick Cotter.
Carroll went 90-61 in 14 seasons at Clear Fork, including three 10-win seasons between 2017 and 2022 and two undefeated regular seasons, and had coached for 39 years before being fired two falls ago.
Cotter guided Fairbanks to its first playoff appearance in 11 years in 2018.
Anthony Colucci, St. Charles
Colucci’s first head coaching job comes with the challenge of leading the Cardinals to their first winning season in 11 years and first CCL victory since 2016.
The former Capital University lineman and Ashtabula Lakeside graduate, who succeeds Deke Hocker, had college coaching stints at Centre (2014-16) and Birmingham-Southern (2017-22). He was head coach of the latter in 2023 before the school closed May 31 due to insufficient funding.
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Josh Franke, Westerville Central
Franke returns to central Ohio after guiding his alma mater, Toronto, to 37 wins and five Division VII playoff appearances the past six seasons. The Red Knights went 9-2 last fall.
A 2005 graduate of Toronto who succeeds Ed Miley, Franke attended Otterbein and served as an assistant at Central Crossing in 2010. Franke later had stints as a head coach at Saluda (Virginia) Middlesex (2011-12), Ashtabula Edgewood (2013-14) and Newton Falls (2015-17).
Grant Georgic, Buckeye Valley
The 2010 graduate of Buckeye Valley succeeds 10-year coach Matt Stephens at his alma mater.
Georgic was an all-state two-way lineman for the Barons before playing four years at Dayton. He returned to Buckeye Valley in 2021 as an assistant coach.
Stephens went 45-57 in a run that included the program’s first two playoff appearances (2020 and 2022).
Heath Hinton, Granville
The fifth head-coaching stop in Hinton’s career comes in a thriving program for which he served as outside linebackers coach last fall.
Hinton, whose uncles include longtime high school coach Ron Hinton and one-time Ohio State assistant Tim Hinton, has an 82-95 career record between stops at Wellston, Marion Harding, Circleville and Chillicothe Zane Trace since 2004.
Hinton succeeds Wes Schroeder, who was 38-8 in four seasons at Granville and was hired at Olentangy Orange in January.
Jahari Murdock, KIPP Columbus
A 2010 graduate of Akron Hoban, Murdock becomes KIPP’s third coach in as many years.
Murdock previously served as an assistant at his alma mater and was a star track athlete, earning All-American honors and Junior Olympic berths as a sprinter.
KIPP went 2-8 last fall under Terrance Ayers.
Wes Schroeder, Olentangy Orange
Schroeder returned to the Olentangy district in early January to take over for 10-year coach Zebb Schroeder, who is not related.
Schroeder was offensive coordinator at Olentangy Liberty for its Division I state semifinal seasons of 2016 and 2017. The 2004 graduate of Leipsic in northwest Ohio led Harrod Allen East to nine wins in 2019 and was Division III state Coach of the Year in 2021.
Ron Severance, Worthington Christian
Severance returned to the Warriors’ program after a three-year absence, taking over for Jeff Hartings.
Severance, a 1987 graduate of Worthington who still ranks as one of Otterbein’s top all-time wide receivers, was Worthington Christian’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks, wide receivers and special teams between 2018 and 2020.
Hartings, who was 46-28 in seven seasons, now is an assistant coach at Olentangy.
Adam Warren, South
This is the first head coaching job for Warren, a 2004 graduate of Independence who doubles as head custodian at South. Warren was on previous coach George Yates’ staff and also has coached baseball and basketball at the middle school level.
Last year’s 4-7 season broke a string of five consecutive winning seasons for the Bulldogs, who shared the City League-South title in 2022.
Mark Weber, Mount Vernon
The longtime Teays Valley coach was hired in January to reverse the fortunes of a Yellow Jackets program coming off three consecutive losing seasons.
Weber, who takes over for Jay Campbell, went 60-32 from 2014-22 at Teays with five MSL-Buckeye championships and four playoff appearances. Weber spent last fall as offensive coordinator at Utica, which enjoyed its first winning season (7-4) since 2020.
Rob Wheelwright, Walnut Ridge
The former Scots great and 2013 graduate aims to resurrect a program that has lost 22 of 28 games since 2020. Wheelwright, an all-state receiver in high school who went on to play four years at Wisconsin, spent the past two years as offensive coordinator at East. He succeeds Clarence Daniels.
The Tigers went 18-5 in that span with consecutive Division IV, Region 15 playoff appearances and a share of the City-North championship in 2022.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Who are central Ohio's new high school football coaches in 2024?
