Lenahan leaves his legacy and goes out on top

Winning a state championship is the crowning achievement for many coaches. For others, it’s routine. Either way, it’s become a yardstick for measuring high school coaching success.

Each year, American Football Monthly conducts a survey of head coaches of state champion teams. While the statistics we gather, particularly the data regarding teams’ style of play, are certainly interesting, it’s the comments and personal stories we receive that reveal the most about what it means to win a state championship.

Obviously, there is no single factor that can guarantee a state title. Rather, it’s a combination of motivated players, dedicated coaches, well-though-out offensive and defensive schemes, hard work, motivation and sometimes luck that are most often responsible for delivering a championship trophy.

As we approach the 2014 playoffs we will take a look back at five championship teams with unique stories that rose to championship heights in 2013.

MORE: Pine Creek (CO) | Ridgeview (OR) | Northwest (MD) | Doniphan-Trumball (NE)

For Chuck Lenahan, it was a storybook ending. Lenahan’s Plymouth Bobcats defeated Portsmouth High School, 21-14, in overtime in the New Hampshire Division II title game. Plymouth’s only loss was to Portsmouth earlier in the season. Lenahan, 71, announced before the season that this was going to be his last as a coach. The winningest coach in New England prep history, Lenahan won 20 state championships in his 43-year career.

In Lenahan’s first year at Plymouth his team finished 0-6-1. But the next season, Plymouth won the state championship. Lenahan has had 57 and 46-game winning streaks and 10 undefeated seasons. He retires with an overall record of 356-70-1. For the decade 2000-2009, Plymouth’s record was an astonishing 106-3.

“Each of the 20 state championships has been different,” said Lenahan. “But each one – from 1972 to 2013 and the years in between – have been special. This year our seniors rose to the occasion and showed special leadership. There was pressure on all the players and coaches when I announced before the season that this would be my last team. Everyone wanted to go out a winner.”

A disciple of the Delaware Wing T, Lenahan got to know the architect of this offense, legendary coach Tubby Raymond. “We’ve run the Delaware Wing-T since 1971 and visited with Coach Raymond and his staff a number of times,” said Lenahan. “We use the basic team concepts of the Wing-T with two tight ends and lots of misdirection.”

Part of the reason for Plymouth’s success is their preparation. “We pay attention to detail and want to be as prepared as well as we can for our opponent, both offensively and defensively, and excute as effectively as we can,” Lenahan commented. “On both sides of the ball, it comes down to our execution. On defense, we’ve been using a base 4-4 for decades. Offensively, we were on a roll for part of the season by going seven games without commiting a turnover.”

Plymouth has also been blessed by not having many coaching changes among Lenahan’s assistants. In fact, two of his assistant coaches have been with him since the mid 1980’s. “I think that a good portion of our success has been the fact that there hasn’t been many coaching changes in the staff,” Lenahan said. “The kids then know what to expect from our coordinators and position coaches. The other thing that has really helped us is being consistent in just about everything we do – dealing with the kids every day, having structured practices, and the same routine.”

Lenahan’s basic philosophy starts and ends with his athletes. “I think it’s important for every coach to make football important for the kids,” said Lenahan. “That’s done by showing them you care. If they do, they will buy into your system. Always be there for the kids and teach them values and believing in themselves. There’s no easy way to be successful – hard work is at the core of success.”

Lenahan coached the fathers of nine players on last fall’s team. Going out on top, he is looking forward to his retirement. “I’ll be coming to all the games this fall, but I’m really looking forward to spending time with my wife and family. This will be the first fall I’ve had to completely enjoy with my wife and not have to worry about practices, gameplans and how we execute on Friday nights.”

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