Until head football coach Ben Wolfe received a phone call Nov. 18, the day the annual All-Metro Offensive Team was named, he had no previous knowledge regarding his serious consideration for the All-Metro Coach of the Year award.  

“Our athletic director Andy Ewald called me on Friday, the day that the award was announced, and then really the only thing I ever saw about it was on KARE-11. They do an annual All-Metro team and I was announced as part of that group,” Wolfe said.

Senior football captain Skyler Rudelius-Palmer said the team felt grateful Wolfe’s efforts were recognized when they first heard about the award.

“We heard about it the day it happened. We were all very proud. We were like ‘he’s very deserving of it,’” Rudelius-Palmer said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better coach this year and we were just really proud of how he helped us. We were glad that he was acknowledged for that.”

Wolfe said although he does not fully know the process for choosing Coach of the Year, he assumes the team’s successful season played a large role in his nomination.

“I think they just look at people in the area. We get asked as coaches to nominate players for it so I maybe was nominated by some other coaches in the area — I’m not too sure,” Wolfe said. “Obviously they knew about our season and the run that we had and I’m sure it made for a good story and was all probably played into the selection process.”

Rudelius-Palmer said Wolfe made important contributions both offensively and for the team as a whole.

“He runs the offense and he calls the play. Offensively he was the one calling the plays that helped us get the touchdowns,” Rudelius-Palmer said. “Overall he was just watching film I’m sure and keeping all the coaching staff on their jobs and getting all the players to keep doing what they’re doing.”

Senior football captain Peyton Morrison said Wolfe deserved the award because his coaching helped the team improve from previous seasons.

“I believe he won it because we really improved tremendously from last year”, Morrison said. “We trusted each other and (Wolfe) helped us believe in ourselves after our slow start to the year.”

Wolfe said his focus on keeping the team high in spirits played into their promising season.

“As the head coach, I probably credit most of it to the culture of the program and a lot of what you see at the end of it is my responsibility. It’s just kind of keeping guys motivated,” Wolfe said. “The football season can be a grind and its just having a pulse on the team and making some decisions.”

Rudelius-Palmer said Wolfe’s focus on team mentality rather than individual talents helped the players grow as a unit.

“He kept us balanced and kept us focused on the overall whole as a team instead of individual stuff and sort of kept us going one game at a time, one play a time, rather than focusing on stuff that’s far in the future,” Rudelius-Palmer said.

Wolfe said he feels proud both himself and the football team were recognized for their talent and hard work this past season.

“I think it’s certainly a lot of things to be proud of with our kids and the accomplishments that they’ve received and the honor that they’ve received because at the end of it they are just a lot of good kids that happen to be good at sports,” Wolfe said. “To see kids get recognized for that is a good thing for our community, a good thing for our school and a good thing for our team.”