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Bohren resigns from Southington
By Steve Ruman
Throughout his coaching career, Bill Bohren, 82, has made a habit of exiting programs simply because he felt the time was right.
Bohren’s instincts told him it was time to move on once again, and as a result the Southington High football program is searching for a new mentor.
Bohren on Friday informed Southington school officials that he was resigning as the Wildcats head coach, effective immediately. Bohren coached the Wildcats for two seasons, compiling a 7-12 record.
Southington recently finished its 2016 campaign with a 4-6 mark.
“I’m just stepping aside for personal reasons, there really wasn’t anything within the program or the school that prompted the decision,” Bohren said. “The kids I had, they played hard for me and I very much enjoyed working with them. I just felt like it was time to walk away.”
“For the time being, I’m just going to sit back, relax and play things by ear. I’m going to go watch some games as a fan.”
Bohren began his high school coaching career in 1965 at Ohio High School (Ohio, Il.). At the time, he served as both the school’s football and basketball coach.
After spending seven years Illinois, the Ambridge, Pa., native worked his way back east. He made a four-year stop at Ottawa Glandorf, then spent three years guiding the Steubenville program before establishing himself as a fixture in the Mahoning Valley.
Southington marked the 10th head coaching job for Bohren who has enjoyed success at nearly 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-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 295-174-6.
While Bohren walked away without any definite plans for the future, he stressed that leaving Southington was a resignation and not a retirement.
“I’ll see what happens, see what opens up,” Bohren said. “I’m healthy and I still very much enjoy being out there. If it’s up to me, I’ll be coaching somewhere next year.”
While much has been made about Bohren’s quest for a milestone 300th win, he insists he will not return to the sidelines for the sole purpose of picking up five more victories.
“I just still love to coach, I still love being out there,” Bohren said. “Three hundred would be nice, but that alone isn’t going to make me come back. I still very much enjoy coaching.”