43
Kehres praises legacy of former Mount Union coaches
Leader says recruiting, retention, development are keys to success
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
Vince Kehres says former Mount Union head football coaches Ken Wable and his father, Larry, set the foundation for the Purple Raiders’ grid program.
“For 52 years there was sustainability with our football program,” Kehres told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “For me, it’s just been a matter of sustaining the foundation that they built.”
Kehres will head into his seventh season at the helm of the Purple Raiders this fall with an 84-5 record (.944 winning percentage), a 53-1 (.981) Ohio Athletic Conference ledger and two Division III national championships (2015 and 2017).
His father, who spent 27 years at the helm, won 11 titles, was 332-24-3 (.929) overall and 230-8-3 (.961) in the OAC, has agreed to become a member of his sons coaching staff this season.
Kehres adds that continuity has been a key factor in Mount Union’s success.
“I take pride in the fact that I’m part of such a special program,” Kehres said. “We’ve had continuity on our coaching staff, many of them Mount Union grads who have a pride and loyalty to our program.
“I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel when I took over, just make a few subtle changes.”
According to Kehres, the key to maintaining is three-part and includes recruiting, retention and development.
“Recruiting is our lifeblood and we’re just now finalizing our 2019 class,” Kehres said. “You need to identify three things during the recruitment process and one is to identify student-athletes with character.
“Second, they must be serious students. We’re not just a football school, [we] have stringent academic standards and they must be serious about obtaining their degree. Finally, they must be serious about football.”
Retention has been a major topic with all schools in every division.
“You have to monitor your players both academically and socially,” Kehres said. “Day in and day out you have to make sure that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.”
Development has been the reason they’ve seen several former Raiders in the professional ranks, including standout wide receivers Pierre Garson and Cecil Shorts III, tight end Kyle Miller and quarterback Jim Ballard.
“We pride ourselves on being a development program,” Kehres said. “In a good program, players are getting better year I and year out.”
He said the Ohio Athletic Conference will be as competitive as ever this season.
“We’ve been neck-and-neck with John Carroll the last eight years while Ohio Northern, Baldwin-Wallace and Marietta are better,” Kehres said.
The Raiders return three All-Americans with their strength up front on both sides.
“We’re excited because we feel like we have a good team in place,” Kehres said. “We have nine offensive and three defensive linemen returning so our strength as a team will be up front, which is rare for us compared to past years.
“It’s not the typical way you would describe a Mount Union football team.
The three returning All-Americans include quarterback De’Angelo Fulford, who won the starting job as a freshman in 2016.
Others are running back Josh Petruccelli and Justin Hill.
“We did lose two outstanding corners and two excellent safeties on defense, so we will need to develop depth in those areas,” Kehres said.
Mount Union has 13 Division III national championships and has played in 21 of the last 25 Division III national championship games.
Last season, the Purple Raiders were national runners-up after losing to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 24-16.