Brian Spicer is back coaching prep football in the Buckeye State.
Last month, the former Marietta Tigers head man was hired by the Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education to lead the Hillsboro Indians on the gridiron this upcoming fall.
Spicer, who recently celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary with wife Grace, will also teach math at the school, located in Highland County.
After losing the head football coaching position at MHS due to budget cuts, Spicer coached at Albany (N.Y.) High, an urban school in the state capital, last season. The Falcons were winless at the varsity (0-9), JV and modified levels.
Whoever said "you can't win 'em all" was right on the money in this particular case.
Anyways, Spicer's last varsity win on the sideline occurred when the Tigers beat the Athens Bulldogs, 41-11, in 2007.
Coaching at Hillsboro figures to be another challenge for Spicer, too, as the Ohio Division III Indians, a member of the South Central Ohio League (SCOL) were 2-8 on the gridiron in 2008.
Still...in Marietta High's football history, Spicer is the only coach to have guided the Tigers to a state playoff berth.
Spicer is a 1988 graduate of West Point and a 1984 grad of Massillon Washington High School. He and his wife have three children, Kelsey (13), Dave (9) and Maggie (7).
So, now that you know where Spicer is, and what he's doing, here's a few more familar prep and college names from the past.
Corona del Mar is Spanish for "Crown of the Sea," and this is where Tim Tolzda is - Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif. At the school, he is an assistant principal.
From 1992 to 2000, Tolzda was Marietta High's head basketball coach. In eight seasons at the helm, he guided the Tigers to a 114-58 record (.663 winning percentage) and four Southeastern Ohio Athletic League (SEOAL) championships, three in a row from 1993 to 1996.
Before Marietta High, Tolzda was a very successfull prep basketball coach at Caldwell in Noble County.
In Marietta College's men's basketball history, Doug Foote coached 385 games, compiling a 147-238 record in 15 seasons at the helm. During the 1999-2000 campaign, he guided the Pioneers to a 17-8 mark.
Since then, MC has not enjoyed a winning campaign on the hardwood, although it did break even (13-13) in 2001-02
Foote is currently the athletic director and dean of students at New Richmond High School in Clermont County.
James Stutzman coached the Marietta College women's basketball team from 2000 to 2003, compiling a 24-52 record. The MC ladies have not posted a winning season since 1994-95 when it was 13-12.
After leaving Marietta, Stutzman was hired as the head girls basketball coach at Miami Trace High School in Fayette County. The Lady Panthers compete in the South Central Ohio League.
In 2005, Stutzman was the Girls Division II Coach of the Year at Miami Trace.
Darryl Morhardt served as the pitching coach on the Marietta College baseball staff for a few years. The Torrington, Ct., native threw for three seasons in the Atlanta Braves farm system before geting into the coaching business.
This summer, Morhardt is the Holyoke (Mass.) Blue Sox skipper in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
Tyler Mott replaced Morhardt as pitching coach, and became skipper Brian Brewer's right-hand man when the Pioneers advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series in Wisconsin in 2006 and 2007.
In 2006, the 'Etta Express won it all.
In 2008, Mott returned to his college alma mater at Ohio Wesleyan University, where he's now the Battling Bishops' head baseball coach.
Ohio Wesleyan's head football coach and associates athletic director is Mike Hollway, who guided MC on the gridiron from 1983 to 1986. In his last season, the Pioneers were 6-4.
Hollway is currently the winningest football coach in Ohio Wesleyan history.
Todd Glaser was at the Marietta College football helm from 2003 to 2005, leading the Pioneers to two non-losing seasons.
In 2004, he was honored as the Ohio Athletic Conference's Coach of the Year after the Pioneers went 6-4.
After returning to his college alma mater at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Glaser was named the 2007 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (WIAC) George Chryst Coach of the Year.
Curt Wiese succeeded Glaser at the football helm, and the Pioneers were 6-4 in 2006. After 2007, though, he accepted the offensive coordinator position at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a Division II school in the North Central Conference.
Last fall, UMD was the NCAA II champion with a 15-0 record.
Ron Johnston is the Marietta Times sports editor, and can be reached at 376-5441, or at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com
