Wittenberg football: Secret is good players

Andy Waddle is in charge of Tigers’ D, which has allowed 53 points in 10 games.

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 12:14 AM Saturday, November 21, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — He’s the coach of the nation’s top defense and as humble as the coach of the nation’s worst.

That might be because Andy Waddle has experienced the best and the worst of times in his four years as Wittenberg’s defensive coordinator.

In his first game on the job in 2006, the Tigers lost 57-7 to Capital.

“I was just glad coach (Joe) Fincham didn’t fire me,” Waddle said. “I think I would have.”

Three years later, Waddle not only has a job, but one of the best defenses in Wittenberg history. The Tigers allowed 53 points in the regular season en route to a 10-0 record and a noon first-round home game today, Nov. 21, against Mount St. Joseph (9-1) in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

“I don’t want to take any more credit than I deserve,” said Waddle, a Greenon High School graduate who played three seasons for the Tigers (2000-02), “because there’s a lot of coaches out there who could coach Eddie Vallery, Brad McKinley, Zach Hurtt, Trent Brunic, you name it, and have success.”

Waddle said his secret is as simple: Recruit good players. That’s what he and the Wittenberg coaching staff have done in the last three years.

McKinley was the team’s leading tackler as a freshman and sophomore. The junior Vallery, who tied for the national lead in sacks with 14.5, will likely be Wittenberg’s first North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year since Juan Howard in 2001.

“First and foremost, it’s about players,” Fincham said. “(The defensive coaching staff) did a nice job of developing packages that fit our strengths, and as simple as it sounds, they got them to play hard and got them to play with discipline and got them to play together.”

Said Waddle, “This group, I think what makes them different is they’ve come the hard way. A lot of people outside Wittenberg probably didn’t think they were capable of being where they are right now.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.

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