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Head Coach Mike Schmitz
Now in his 14th year with The College of Wooster football program and ninth as head coach, Mike Schmitz has been a key figure in transforming the Fighting Scots into a consistent winner. During his overall tenure, Wooster has gone 91-41 (.689), marking the school’s winningest stretch of the last 80 years. In his first eight seasons at the helm, Schmitz, who also serves as the offensive coordinator, has directed the Scots to a 54-28 record (.659), highlighted by the 2004 campaign when Wooster put together a perfect regular season (10-0), won the North Coast Athletic Conference (7-0) – its first outright conference championship since 1934 – and earned the school’s first-ever berth into the NCAA Div. III Football Championship. He was awarded with Ohio College Coach-of-the-Year honors from the National Football Foundation as well as being tabbed the 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. The Scots also nearly made the playoffs two other seasons during Schmitz’s tenure, finishing 8-2 in 2002 and 2006, and in 2000, he overcame the graduation of 10 all-conference players from the previous era, guiding Wooster to its fifth-straight winning season (6-4) at the time. Before being named head coach in February of 2000, Schmitz had been the offensive coordinator for five years. Joining a program in 1995 that had won a meager 27.2 percent (33-89-1) of its games the prior 13 seasons, including a 1-9 mark in 1994, Schmitz contributed to an immediate turnaround. In fact, with Schmitz directing the offense, the Scots went 37-13 from 1995-99, including a three-way tie for the NCAC championship in 1997. More specifically, Schmitz took over a unit that had finished ninth in the NCAC in total offense (208.5 ypg) and scoring offense (7.9 ppg) in 1994. Under his guidance, Wooster jumped to fifth in total offense (244.4 ypg) and sixth in scoring offense (11.0 ppg) the very next season. Then, from 1996-99, the Scots rated among the top-three teams in the league in both categories every season, averaging 407.2 yards and 32.3 points. Also noteworthy, in 1999, the Scots led the NCAC in total offense (432.3 ypg) for the first time. The offense has continued to thrive with Schmitz at head coach. Wooster has finished top-three in the league in both scoring and total offense three of the last six years, and was one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation, ranking No. 6 in Div. III in 2004 (42.5 ppg) and No. 7 in 2003 (40.5 ppg). Prior to arriving on Wooster’s campus, Schmitz was the head football coach at four high schools, compiling an overall record of 93-57-1 (.619). Highlighting his high school coaching days, Schmitz led nearby Rittman to a mark of 43-27-1 (.613) from 1981-87, which included the school’s first undefeated regular season and trip to the state playoffs in 1986. In 1988, he became the head coach at Archbishop Hoban and led it to a 33-7 record (.825), which still stands as the highest winning percentage over a four-year period in school history. Schmitz also has spent time as the head coach at Medina and Lexington High Schools. A native of Delta, Ohio, Schmitz earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1974 and has done graduate work at Ashland University. While at Bowling Green, he was a three-year member of the Falcon wrestling team. Personally, Mike and his wife, Peggy, reside in Wooster. The couple has two children, Joie, a 2003 Denison University graduate who currently works in independent sales for Under Armour in Baltimore, Md., and Steve, a senior at the University of Akron. Active in the Wooster community, Schmitz has volunteered his time with the Salvation Army and Every Woman’s House. Schmitz’s Stats As Head Coach …
As Offensive Coordinator …
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Phone: (330) 263-2177