Wakefield it is.
[h=1]Keith Wakefield is back at Perry[/h] Todd Porter
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Updated: Monday, December 10, 2012
" title="Keith Wakefield (left) talks with Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres during a 2011 game. Wakefield, who spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Mount Union, is returning to Perry as its head coach. REPOSITORY SCOTT HECKEL
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Keith Wakefield (left) talks with Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres during a 2011 game. Wakefield, who spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Mount Union, is returning to Perry as its head coach. REPOSITORY SCOTT HECKEL
Keith Wakefield is back as coach. Whether he can bring Perry High School football with him is his challenge.
Wakefield was hired by the district Monday afternoon. His hiring will have to be approved by the board of education, but that appears to be a formality.
“I feel obligated again, and I haven’t felt that way in a while,” Wakefield said. “I met the kids today, and about eight or nine of them ... their dads played for me. I want to try to right the ship if we can. The obligation is for so many guys who played for me and their kids are in school now.
“There are a lot of families in Perry who have pride in what we did. We were well respected in Stark County, and when people played us across the state, they knew it was going to be a physical game. That’s what I was proud of.”
Wakefield was among four candidates considered for the position. Current Perry assistants Mike Hall, Scott Campbell and Broc Dial were considered. Campbell is the younger brother
of University of Toledo head coach Matt Campbell. Hall has been at Perry through the last two head coaches and is a former head coach. Dial is the son of the late Gary Dial.
Perry athletic director Todd Sutton said he would like one of the three to become a candidate again and to learn under Wakefield and be groomed to take over when Wakefield is ready to leave.
Wakefield is no stranger to Perry fans. He spent 21 season as the Panthers head coach and won 11 Federal League championships. Wakefield took this past fall off, but before that, he was an assistant coach at the University of Mount Union.
Perry ran the wing-T offense under Wakefield. Some believe that offense is antiquated, but it helped Perry when Wakefield coached there, particularly near the end of his career, because teams weren’t used to seeing it.
“I was chastised for running the ball,” Wakefield said. “When you play teams that have more athleticism, then you better find a way. I always protected my defense with my offense. If you’re playing Massillon, McKinley, Boardman, GlenOak, Hoover and they’re better than you, then you better find a way to keep their guys off the field, or you get beat.”
During his first stint at Perry, Wakefield prided himself on coaching attitude and effort. His goal is to bring that thinking back.
“I want to bring that toughness back and an attitude of expecting to win,” Wakefield said. “I want to build a pride in the way we play.”
Keith Boedicker resigned last week after three seasons in which he went 13-17. Wakefield went 157-72 from 1982-2003. His 157 wins are fourth-most in Stark County history.
“We want to try to bring back the tradition and level of toughness we displayed in the past,” Sutton said. “I don’t know anybody better to do that than (Wakefield). He was willing to come back. We weren’t sure where he was at in his career.”
For the first time in 42 years, Wakefield did not coach football in the fall. He had been an assistant coach at the University of Mount Union and ran the Purple Raiders’ offseason weight program. Perry players may notice a difference in the offseason.
Wakefield said the team will start lifting in a week and continue through the Christmas break.
“I don’t know how else to do it,” Wakefield said. “You have to even the score somewhere, and you can do that in the offseason.”
Wakefield is 63. Instead of coaching last fall, he worked three days a week at a hunting store and sold guns. He plans to run the wing-T, or a variation of it.
You will see the Panthers in the shotgun formation as well. Having worked under Larry Kehres at Mount Union, Wakefield has a sound understanding of the passing game.
“There are only two pure offenses in football,” Wakefield said. “One is the wishbone-option, and the other is the wing-T. If you look at spread offenses today, they’re running the read option with their quarterback and the jet sweep. I was talking to Urban Meyer a few weeks ago. All they did with (Tim) Tebow at Florida was the wing-T and option. ... There’s only so many things you can do. We will throw it more, but we have to control the football. You can’t let Massillon and McKinley on the field more than you are.”
At 63, Wakefield sounded as fiery as he did 20 years ago. “I can still get after it,” he said, laughing.
That passion came through in his interview with Perry administrators.
“He worked for six years under Larry Kehres,” Sutton said. “He knows how to throw the football. You’ll still see the misdirection, and they will run stuff out of the shotgun that will make it look different.”
Wakefield is back in Perry football. For how long? He isn’t sure. Long enough, he believes, to have an impact.
“Everybody was thanking me (Monday) for coming back,” Wakefield said. “I told them maybe you ought to wait a year before thanking me.”
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Any thought here? Dennison from New Phila?
I think Perry needs a Perry guy. Wakefields name has been dropped on a couple of different sites, but who knows. maybe Doug Burwell? Tony Carr is a guy who gets overlooked all the time.
Ifft is staying at Dover for at least two more years. Book it.
Congratulations to Perry High School for making the right selection. Wakefield is an animal, and will see this through.