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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Prep Football: Leonard named Arlington coach

Little Caesars
By MARK HEIMAN

STAFF WRITER

ARLINGTON — Dick Leonard gave a little chuckle.

"Maybe I'm the new old coach," Leonard said Tuesday evening, a day after being named Arlington's head football coach by the school's board of education.

Leonard certainly is a familiar face at Arlington. After all, he's been stalking the football sidelines for 25 years there.

Leonard began his Arlington football coaching career while doing his student teaching at the school. And he's never left, the football ranks or as a teacher as he is in his 24th year as an educator.

"I've never been anywhere else," said Leonard, also a co-athletics director at the school. "I'm lucky because the community accepted me and embraced me.

"Now I have the board's blessing to be the football coach."

Leonard, who previously was Arlington's baseball coach for 15 years, will take over for Doug Oates, who led the Red Devils to a 10-3 mark last year. Oates was 35-18 in five seasons.

Last year's 10-3 mark represented Arlington's first trip to the playoffs, despite having an overall record of 546-228-39 since 1909.

"I felt it was important to have a smooth transition. I hoped for the easiest transition for kids, because it's all about the kids," Leonard said. "I don't plan to change a whole lot, because what we have done has been successful."

"The first order of business is to assemble a good staff. I'm hoping to keep some of it intact. But football is so big that you have to put together a good staff."

Leonard should know. After all he's been on the Red Devils' staff for a quarter of a century.

Contact staff writer Mark Heiman at:

(419) 427-8405

Send an e-mail to Mark Heiman
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