Top coach in high school football for each decade

For the past five seasons, no team has been able to touch the Bellevue (Wash.) Wolverines. Since losing to Skyline in the second game of the 2010 season, Bellevue has won 59 straight games, the second-best active winning streak in the nation.

As a result, Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff gets the nod as the MaxPreps Coach of the Decade for the 2010s. Goncharoff's selection makes him one of 11 coaches chosen for this unofficial honor, which looks back at some of the top coaches in the country over the past 100 years.

Fittingly enough, Bellevue and Goncharoff first gained prominence when they knocked off the Coach of the 2000s, Bob Ladouceur of De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in 2004. The win for Bellevue ended De La Salle's 151-game win streak.

Other Coaches of the Decade include Mater Dei leader Bruce Rollinson, who continues to pump out winning teams every year in Orange County, a Valdosta coach who helped make his program the winningest program in American high school football history, and a pioneer of the sport who originated many strategies that are commonplace in today's game.



Starting with the 1910s, MaxPreps has selected the top high school coach for each decade. There is no scientific method at work here, although national championships, overall records, winning streaks, state titles and No. 1 rankings were all considered when choosing the Coach of the Decade.

Here's a look at MaxPreps' selections for the Coach of the Decade.


1910s - Robert Zuppke, Oak Park-River Forest (Oak Park, Ill.)
Zuppke only coached three years at Oak Park, but they were outstanding seasons. Besides winning a national championship game in 1912 against Everett (Mass.), Zuppke's Oak Park team was also regarded as the top high school team in the nation in 1910 and 1911. During that span, Oak Park outscored its opponents 1,038-47. Zuppke also coached a future Pro Football Hall of Famer in George Trafton. Zuppke went on to a long career at the University of Illinois, where he coached Red Grange. He's credited with such innovations as the flea-flicker, the onside kick, the screen pass and the offensive huddle, according to the Oak Park & River Forest Historical Society.

1920s - Paul Burnum, Tuscaloosa (Ala.)
Another coach with a short high school career before moving on to the college ranks, Burnum led Tuscaloosa to five straight state championships in his five years there (1925-1929) and the team was twice recognized as national champions (1926, 1929) by the National Sports News Service. His teams were 42-0-1 during those five seasons. Burnum went on to a 13-year career as an assistant coach for the Crimson Tide football team and also coached basketball and baseball at the university.

1930s - Paul Brown, Washington (Massillon, Ohio)
Brown excelled as a college coach at Ohio State and as a professional coach with the Cleveland Browns, but he got his start as a high school coach, most notably at Washington from 1932 to 1940. During that span, Brown's team lost just 10 games total. His 1935, 1936, 1939 and 1940 teams were all chosen as national champions by the National Sports News Service. The school stadium is named after Brown and there is a Paul Brown museum located in Massillon.

1940s - Joe Golding, Wichita Falls (Texas)
In 15 years at Wichita Falls (1947-1961), Golding won 152 games, lost 22 and tied two. His 1949 team is listed by the National Sports News Service as the top high school team in the country. He won four state titles and the Wichita Falls program was considered one of the top dynasties in Texas history. The field at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls is named after Golding.

1950s - Chuck Moser, Abilene (Texas)
Under Moser, Abilene had a dynasty that dominated Texas football during the late 1950s. His teams won 49 straight games, which is still a large school record in Texas, and his 1956 team earned acclaim as the top team in the country according to the National Sports News Service. The 49-game win streak lasted from 1954 to 1957. During that span, Abilene outscored its opponents 1,773 to 276. Moser retired at age 41 following the 1960 season to become the school's athletic director. His Abilene teams were 78-7-2 during his years as coach.

1960s - Wright Bazemore, Valdosta (Ga.)
Valdosta has won more high school football games than any other school in American history and Bazemore is a big reason why. During his time at the Georgia school, his teams went 268-51-7 and won 17 regional titles, 15 South Georgia championships, 14 state titles and three national championships. He coached at the school from 1941 until retiring in 1971. He was elected to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1960.

1970s - Gerry Faust, Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati)
Faust might be best-known for being hired straight from the high school ranks to coach the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. While his coaching career at Notre Dame lasted just five seasons, he had a remarkable 19-year career at Archbishop Moeller, where his teams went 178-23-2 with seven unbeaten seasons. In his final six seasons, Faust won five Ohio state championships. His 1977, 1979, and 1980 teams were all named national champions by the National Sports News Service.



1980s - Bob Shannon, East St. Louis (Ill.)
In a tough choice over Valdosta coach Nick Hyder, Shannon is the coach of the decade for the 1980s. During his 31 seasons at East St. Louis, Shannon went 195-31. During a three-year stretch in the 1980s, Shannon's teams won 40 straight games with three straight state championships. He was named the National Coach of the Year by USA Today in 1984 and 1985. His 1985 team finished the year ranked No. 1 by USA Today while his 1984 and 1989 teams both finished second.

1990s - Bruce Rollinson, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Rollinson's 1994 and 1996 teams both finished the season undefeated at 14-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today, while his 1998 team finished No. 2. During his 25 seasons as coach of the Monarchs, Rollinson posted a record of 240-76-2. His teams reached the CIF Southern Section finals seven times during the 1990s with five championships.

2000s - Bob Ladouceur, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)
Ladouceur could easily have been named the coach of the 1980s or the 1990s, as his 34-year run at De La Salle (1979-2012) resulted in 399 wins, just 25 losses and three ties. His team finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports 12 times and his teams won CIF Bowl games in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. It was during the 2000s that De La Salle's 151-game win streak finally ended, but not before Ladouceur's teams were named mythical national champions by USA Today in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. De La Salle also won national championships in 1994 (By ESPN), 1998 (USA Today) and 1999 (National Sports News Service).

2010s - Butch Goncharoff, Bellevue (Wash.)
Goncharoff is the coach who ended De La Salle's 151-game win streak with a 39-20 win in 2004. His Bellevue team has won 11 state titles in the past 12 years, including six in a row. Bellevue also has one of the nation's longest winning streaks at 59 games in a row.