2009 Small School Coach of the Year

Head Coach Mike Kogut, Tri-Valley

After being on the staffs at Mount Carmel and Bloomsburg University, Mike Kogut found an opportunity to be a head coach at Tri-Valley. In just his second year as head coach, Kogut’s Bulldogs have won an Eastern Conference title, the District 11 Class A championship and made it to the Eastern finals this season.

Coach Kogut talked about taking over two years ago as head coach and bringing in a new system, “I wasn’t sure what to except. You are going in new and talking to different people. One thing I knew is we had tough kids that were committed. There is a growing period in terms to know the kids and the kids getting to know me. They didn’t know what to except of me and we brought a completely different offensive system in.”

In his first year as head coach his team finished 6-6 winning four of their last six games en route to the Eastern Conference title.

This season his team finished 10-5. It was a roller coaster season. His team started 0-2 before ripping off four straight wins. They finished the regular season 6-4. That is when everything clicked, defeating teams like Williams Valley 39-13 after losing to them week two 34-6.

Kogut knew he had the talent at the school to make the Bulldogs into a good football team once the players learned his offensive system.

Kogut said, “The community is very important here. They have pride in athletics and the community. It’s very similar to Mount Carmel but on a smaller scale.”

Week 14 Kogurt may have had his biggest win at Tri-Valley defeating Sothern Columbia 35-32. Kogut was on Mount Carmel’s staff when the two teams played and was familiar with Jim Roth’s program.

Coach Kogut talked about the win. “That was a big win against Southern Columbia. In the last 10 years you can talk about two teams, Southern Columbia and Steelton-Highspire and we were fortunate to beat one of the best programs in single A.”