43
Southington names Bohren football coach
By Steve Ruman
SOUTHINGTON
Bill Bohren was looking for one more program to call his own.
Southington superintendent Rocko Nero was looking for a coach to bring some maturity to the high football program.
On Tuesday, both men found what they were looking for when Bohren was hired to guide the Wildcats’ program.
Bohren takes over for Ryan Slone, who resigned following a four-year stint. In 2014, Southington posted a 2-8 record.
Bohren’s hiring was unanimously approved by the Southington Board of Education.
“We felt that we needed a mature presence within the program, and Bill certainly fits the bill,” Nero said. “Beyond that, you simply cannot dispute his success and his ability to turn around programs. He’s done it everywhere he’s gone.”
Southington marks the tenth head coaching job for the 80-year-old, who has enjoyed success at each stop.
Bohren’s 1976 Steubenville team finished 7-1-2, Big Red’s best showing as a member of the All-American Conference.
At Lakeview, Bohren compiled a 32-18 mark.
At Boardman, his Spartans were 59-26, including two two straight Steel Valley Conference titles and a trip to the Division I state title game.
Salem won its first conference title in 104 years under Bohren.
At Niles, he won a pair of league titles and made two trips to the playoffs.
After sitting out the 2003 season, Bohren took over a LaBrae program which was 3-27 in the three years prior to his arrival. With him, the Vikings went 46-46 with a pair of postseason appearances.
He stepped down at LaBrae following the 2012 season, served as an assistant at Champion in 2013, then sat out the 2014 campaign.
Bohren owns a career record of 288-162-6.
“I always knew I wanted to coach again, and being away from the game this past season just reaffirmed that desire,” Bohren said. “I missed everything about it. I never thought I’d miss two-a-days, but boy did I want to be out there last summer.”
Bohren said he recently attended several Southington basketball games. He was encouraged with what he saw from the Wildcats.
“The kids are disciplined, well-coached and play extremely hard,” Bohren said. “If they play football the way they play basketball, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
Bohren downplayed his age, saying that he “has the same energy and enthusiasm that I did decades ago.” Bohren insists that Southington will be the final stop of his coaching career.