Keeping it in the family

When St. Marys had to fill the head football coaching position when Doug Frye stepped down after the 2008 season, the school went outside the program.

This time, they're staying in-house and in the family.

Offensive coordinator Bo Frye will succeed his father as the Roughriders' head coach pending approval from the Board of Education at the next scheduled meeting on May 5. The school announced the hiring on Thursday.

"Honestly, I feel humbled and honored that they even offered me this position," said Frye via telephone. "I'm grateful to the people here in St. Marys. I'm grateful to our administration, they're awesome. I'm grateful to the kids who have worked and will continue to to work and truly love football in St. Marys."

The honor of taking over for not only the man who he played and coached for, but also his father, is truly humbling for the younger Frye.

"He's done so much for me," said Frye of his father, who will continue to work with the program in some capacity. "From being my coach to being my dad to being my boss, I'm grateful and thankful for him. Each role has been a little different. We'll see how it works out him working under me. I'm truly blessed."

A hard-running tailback in the Roughriders' potent Wing-T set in the early 2000s, Bo Frye helped the Roughriders reach the 2004 Division II state championship game as a junior and was a first-team All-Ohio back in his senior year.

After playing collegiately at Northern Michigan and later the University of Saint Francis, where he teamed up again with younger brother Koby, Bo moved into the coaching ranks for his dad at Wapakoneta. When Doug Frye returned to St. Marys for the 2014 season, Bo and Koby Frye followed to help coach their alma matter.

The return of the Fryes helped revive a Roughrider program that had suffered consecutive winless seasons for the first time in program history the previous two seasons. Within three seasons, the Roughriders had won a share of the WBL title and returned to the playoffs. Last season St. Marys finished 6-3 and reached the third round in Division III playoffs.

"We've had a lot of great kids and still have many great kids," said Frye. "We're going to continue to work and face challenges. We're going to attack those challenges straight ahead and run right at them."