FREDERICKTOWN — Veteran football coach Scott Spitler has accepted the head coaching position at Fredericktown High School.
Fredericktown Local Schools announced the news Monday afternoon on its Facebook page.
Most recently the head football coach at Lucas High School, Spitler’s hiring is pending approval from the Fredericktown Board of Education during its upcoming January meeting.
Spitler, who brings with him more than 30 years of coaching experience, announced his retirement from coaching in November 2023 after a 15-year run at Lucas.
He inherited the program in 2009, then spent the next 15 seasons compiling a record of 103-69, including a trip to the 2019 Division VII state championship game.
A world of possibilities has now been opened for the Freddies, who will likely be led by the architect of north central Ohio’s most successful small-school program.
“Coach (Scott) Spitler brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to our program,” the district wrote on Facebook.
“We look forward to his impact on our student-athletes and the future of Fredericktown football.”
Spitler builds people
After falling to small-school juggernaut Marion Local 28-6 in the 2019 Division VII state championship game, Spitler struck a contemplative tone.
“We don’t judge ourselves on wins and losses,” Spitler said as the room full of reporters fell silent. “It’s about the type of people we are building in our program.”
Despite notching more than 100 career victories, it’s clear the meaning of the game goes beyond just wins and losses for Spitler.
Upon taking over the program, he and the Cubs never won more than four games in a season from 2009 to 2013, but the foundation for unprecedented success was put in place.
The rest is history.
“One of the things that I always stressed to our young men was to always leave things better than you found them,” Spitler wrote in his farewell address in 2023.
“I am extremely proud that I can say with confidence that I have left the Lucas football program in a better place than I found it.”
Pending board approval in January, Spitler is set to begin the process again — this time sporting red and gray.
Year in review
The Freddies finished fourth in the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference this past season with a 5-6 record, 4-3 in the conference.
Fredericktown’s season ended in the opening round of the playoffs with a 52-7 loss to Oak Harbor. Of the Freddies six losses, five games were decided by 14 points or less.
Quarterback Blake Sipes finished as the fourth best passer in the league, completing 82-of-146 passes for 1,145 yards, 8 TDs and 9 interceptions.
Sipes was also one of the KMAC’s top rushers last season. He ran the ball 187 times for 1,346 yards and 17 TDs.