Game of numbers
Schuller, Wacker coached in different eras
When you’re watching a football game you’re continually bombarded with numbers.
Uniform numbers identify the players, the yard line the ball is on, down and distance, time remaining and it goes on from there.
There’s the number 100. That, of course, represents the length in yards of a football field in the United States.
Interestingly enough (at least to me), Jackson County Central football coach Tom Schuller reached a milestone of sorts involving the number 100 last week when his Huskies defeated Worthington.
Schuller now has 100 more career wins than his friend and mentor, Tyrone Wacker, who we wrote about last week.
Thomas Earl (as Tyrone calls him) has 213 wins as coach at JCC. Tyrone won 113 games at Gaylord and Jackson.
Numbers are numbers and you can take them for what they’re worth.
The two men were high school coaches for different lengths of time. Wacker was a high school coach for 16 years while Schuller is in his 25th.
They coached in eras with different postseason opportunities.
In the early years of Wacker’s career there were no state playoffs, so those teams had zero postseason games available. A few “bowl games” matching conference champions so there were some opportunities there for one more game.
A state playoff format began in 1972 with four teams per class competing.
In 1984 section playoffs began with virtually every team making the postseason. In most cases, that meant three section playoff games were available. And the state playoffs were expanded to eight teams, so three more games were possible for those teams.
I need to do more research to determine the number of postseason games Tyrone coached. I’m pretty certain the number at Gaylord was two. There were section playoffs for most of his time in Jackson.
By my count, Schuller has coached 75 postseason games at JCC.
High percentages
Regardless, both coaches have impressive win-loss percentages.
Wacker was 113-45, a .715 percentage.
Schuller is 213-54, a .798 percentage.
If the Huskies continue to do what they expect themselves to do, that percentage will reach .800 in the next few weeks.
Average wins
Want to talk about the average number of wins per season?
Jackson County Central is averaging 8.8 wins per season under Schuller.
In a sport with an eight-game regular season.
And with the goal the team has set for itself this season, the Huskies could push that number above 9 wins per season.
Two with 200
There are 15 active high school football coaches in the state with 200 career wins. Two of them will be on the same field in Blue Earth on Friday.
Schuller will take his 213 career wins to Wilson Field, where Randy Kuechenmeister and Blue Earth Area will be waiting.
Kuechenmeister’s team is 0-2 this season, but the 33-year head coach of the Buccaneers reached the 200-win plateau last season. To date, his teams are 200-132, a .602 percentage.
Kuechenmeister was inducted into the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2023.
Here are the 15 active coaches with 200 career wins. There are a total of 70 who have reached that mark.
Listed are win-loss records (the top two have been at it long enough that they have ties on their record), percentage, name and school.
434-132-3, .765 Mike Mahlen, Verndale
401-167-3, .705 Dwight Lundeen, Becker
389-81, .828 Mike Grant, Eden Prairie
278-110, .716 Terry Bahlmann, Marshall
256-116, .688 Dean Aurich, Mayer Lutheran
230-52, .816 Andy Rostberg, Hutchinson
223-57, .796, Dave Louzek, Moose Lake-Willow River
218-46, .826 John Clark Jr., Mahnomen/Waubun
218-140, .609 Jeff Erdmann, Rosemount
216-41, .840 Chad Johnston, Minneota
213-54, .798 Tom Schuller, Jackson County Central
212-134, .613 Joe Scobloic, Lester Prairie
209-86, .708 Jeff Williams, Owatonna
206-74, .736 Chad Gimbel, Blooming Prairie
200-132, .602 Randy Kuechenmeister, Blue Earth Area
