Oetting takes over Morrison football program

Morrison did not have to look very far to find its next varsity head football coach.

Ryan Oetting, defensive coordinator for the Mustangs’ fresh-soph team in 2017, as well as linebackers coach for the entire program, was formally hired Monday night at the Morrison School Board meeting. Oetting was one of three finalists interviewed in mid-May, and received a verbal approval from the board by the end of May.

Oetting replaces Cory Bielema, who resigned in April when it was announced he was going to be the new principal at Southside Elementary School in Morrison beginning with the 2018-19 school year. Bielema had a 64-42 record in 10 seasons, highlighted by state championships in 2009 and 2011.

While he wants to lead the Mustangs to wins, Oetting views his role as bigger than that.

“The biggest thing is building good young men,” Oetting said. “The scoreboard will take care of itself if we’re working hard, we’re committed to what we’re doing, we have pride in what we’re doing, we’re giving that effort, and trying to be mentally and physically the toughest people out there. I’m really not a guy that’s going to talk about winning and losing.”

Oetting has been overseeing the Morrison summer program. The Mustangs have already been to a 7-on-7 event at Northern Illinois Univ, and have another planned for next month in Oswego. On most Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays in June and July, the team is gathering at the high school for workouts and weightlifting.

Jake Schlegel, a senior who was a running back last season but is being moved to quarterback, is excited to play for his new coach.

“I think he’s going to fit in here pretty well,” Schlegel said. “He’s got a lot of smart ideas. He’s a very intelligent guy, and I think he’s paving the way for a new foundation at Morrison. I’m very excited to get this going, and we’ll see how it goes.”

This is the first football head coaching job for Oetting. He was an assistant at Newman from 2003-13, where he worked with the Comets’ running backs and linebackers, and was also the fresh-soph team’s offensive coordinator.

Oetting then moved over to Sterling for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, and worked with running backs.

At Morrison, he doesn’t anticipate any sweeping changes in the Mustangs’ approach.

“We’re not going to come in and re-invent the wheel,” Oetting said. “We’re not going come in and change the offense or defense dramatically. We may spread it out a little bit more offensively, maybe different sets, things like that, but we’re just going to play tough, hard-nosed football, which has a pretty good tradition in this conference and in Morrison. That’s really what we’re looking to do.”

Oetting’s coaching staff is still in the process of being formed, with a few more hires to be made and roles to be defined. Those on staff already are Nate Vandermyde, on the offensive side in some capacity; John McCoy, with the defensive line; and Sammy Biggs, with running backs and wide receivers.

Oetting is hardly coming in blind to the program. In addition to coaching last year, he is entering his third year as a social studies teacher at MHS and sees his athletes all the time, either in the classroom or the hallway.

“There’s certainly some familiarity with them, but it could be a little different as a head coach as opposed to an assistant coach,” Oetting said. “There’s some things that will change hopefully for the better for all of us.”

The Mustangs have fallen on hard times of late, with a combined record of 13-32 the last five seasons, including 4-5 a year ago. Low numbers have been a problem, but help appears to be on the way.

A good senior class and a fresh-soph team that went 9-0 last season have the Mustangs thinking big. Oetting’s message has simply been to get to work.

“We had really nice season at the sophomore level,” Oetting said, “but I told those boys that’s sophomore football and that season’s over. This is a new year. People improve. People start to hit the weights more at other schools, and we have to keep up and do those things too to stay competitive.”