Chip Otten has now won six state titles in his 15 seasons as head coach at Coldwater…and is our 2024 area Coach of The Year. (Press Pros File Photos)
There’s always stiff competition in west-central Ohio, but considering all…Coldwater’s Chip Otten finishes ahead of the pack as 2024’s Press Pros area Coach of The Year in football.
Ordinarily, this would not be a tough decision to make. Except, on any given year there’s so many great football coaches in west-central Ohio that it’s hard to single out just one!
But short and sweet, Coldwater’s Chip Otten is our choice in 2024 as the Press Pros area Coach of The Year, finishing with a 15-1 overall record, the Division VI state title, and his sixth state title earned during his 15 seasons as coach of the Cavaliers.
How tough was it?
Well, he coaches just ten miles west of Marion Local’s Tim Goodwin, who this year earned his 15th overall title (Division VII) while extending Marion Local consecutive unbeaten streak to an Ohio record 64 games – four consecutive seasons of 16-0, including a 35-0 win over Coldwater in the regular season finale.
But consider a few qualifiers.
Overall strength of schedule might have favored Otten because he began the season with eye-opening non-conference wins over Valley View and Clinton-Massie, a pair of Division IV teams that most favored because there were too many questions about how long it would take Coldwater to re-emerge following the loss of starting center Cale Wenning.
And then the question of requisite parts to compete. Did the Cavaliers have enough of the right tools behind (or beside) quarterback Baylen Blockberger to compete with conference rivals like Anna, Minter, and Marion Local – the gauntlet? Everyone agreed that they were a good team. But were they a ‘great’ team?
And once they hit the playoffs, was Coldwater up to that grueling six-game second season that determines last-man-standing in Division VI?
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Well, yes to all of the above, notwithstanding their one loss to Marion Local.
And along the way Otten never questioned himself, or his players. He just relied on ‘TED’. And TED’s not a tight end or a defensive end. Rather, it’s the mantra of Coldwater football, an acronym meaning…toughness, effort, and discipline.
“These guys just had that,” he stated at the post-game press conference following the Cavs’ 31-7 win over another favored team, Kirtland, in the Division VI title game.
Short and sweet…Otten and his team, collectively, had ‘TED’.
The 2024 title represents the eighth, overall, for Coldwater, and the sixth for Otten. But appreciatively, the latest came as many believed the odds were stacked against Coldwater from the outset.
“But we believed,” said senior running back Cody Depweg. “And we knew that Cale (Wenning) was there. I told him the night before the Kirtland game, that we were going to need him to be there with us…to be the twelfth man. And he was.”
And Otten believed, as well…believing throughout that Wenning was as important in spirit as he was in the flesh. More than just Xs and Os, he took it as the soul of his football team and allowed it to emerge – took it upon himself. He had to believe…first!
And who doesn’t believe now?
Our congratulations to not only one of the best…but one of the best guys you’ll ever meet to meet in his profession. Coldwater’s Chip Otten is the Press Pros area Football Coach of The Year, for 2024.
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