Delaware County fixture Scott Wetzel resigns as Delaware Hayes Pacers football coach

When Scott Wetzel took his first head-coaching job at Buckeye Valley in 1992, Delaware County had five football schools and none of them had field turf. Almost 30 years later and after stints at four of those schools, Wetzel has stepped down after four seasons at Delaware Hayes.

Wetzel was 150-88 in 22 seasons as a coach at Buckeye Valley, Big Walnut, Westerville North and Delaware. He guided Big Walnut to its only state championship in 2007, when the Golden Eagles were in Division III.

“Being in Delaware County has been a great experience; it’s been fun,” Wetzel said. “From my first day at Buckeye Valley until my last day at Delaware Hayes, this county has really changed athletically. Olentangy was one little high school to now four. When I took over at Big Walnut, I think our graduating class (was around) 170. We were a small Division III school. Now they’re pushing to be D-I. The growth of the county has just been crazy. Nobody had field turf before – now everybody has it.”

Wetzel also won four league titles with Buckeye Valley and six at Big Walnut.

“The titles and things were awesome and that was a fun experience,” he said. “I still live in the Big Walnut area and seeing the guys that I coached that are married now and they have kids now and they’re successful in their lives. I had a little small part in that. To me, that’s what I enjoy more than anything else.”

Wetzel informed athletics director Steve Glesenkamp of his decision after Thanksgiving, but the job wasn’t posted until recently.

Wetzel, who also serves as a special education teacher in the district, went 14-27 with the Pacers. He’ll be retiring as a teacher at the end of the school year.

“The reason why is that it’s that time,” Wetzel said. “I think you know when you’re done. I’m done teaching (too). This is year 36 for me.

“The thing about Delaware is that I’ve met a lot of great people here. The department that I teach in is just a fabulous department to work in – great, great people. It’s been an experience that I’ve enjoyed. The players here are quality kids. That’s the sad part – (I’m) leaving that. But you get to the point where you know it’s time and it’s time.”

This fall, Wetzel guided the Pacers to a 3-8 finish, including a 1-6 record in the OCC-Capital Division and a 49-7 loss to Marysville in the first round of the Division I, Region 2 playoffs.

Delaware, which was the No. 16 seed in Region 2, reached the playoffs for the second time in program history and first since 2008 after the regions were expanded from eight to 16 teams beginning with the 2021 season.

“When I look at my time here – if you look at it from the outside in (with) wins and losses – we were not successful,” Wetzel said. “But when you look from the inside out, the program is in great shape. We played a lot of young kids last year. We had 18 underclassmen playing at one point, so the program is solid.”

Among the top players eligible to return are juniors Dalton Allen (DL), Kaden Gannon (WR), Sawyer Sand (RB), Andon Weaver (LB) and Xavier Weaver (DB).

“Scott brought experience to our team and our community,” Glesenkamp said. “We know he cares very much about our players, I know he cares very much about our coaches and I know he cares very much about the community. So, I think those are all qualities that he brought to the program, and we’re very thankful for that.”

Glesenkamp said he already has received responses for the opening, which was first posted on the district’s website Dec. 21.

“We have been working the last three weeks on putting together a process of what we’re looking for,” he said. “Scott let us know some time ago and it gave us a leg up for the administrative team to plan out the future. With the work we’ve put in, we feel like we have a good process in place. We have our student-athletes in the weight room now. But the sooner we can make a decision, we can allow that leadership and the program to get moving.”

Wetzel, who also served as an assistant coach at Dublin Scioto in 1997 and at Big Walnut from 2010-15, didn’t rule out a return to coaching.

“I wouldn’t rule it out, but I have nothing I’m looking at right now,” he said. “I don’t know how to do anything else when you really break it down.”

mrich@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekRich

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Scott Wetzel resigns as Delaware Hayes Pacers football coach