Zizzers will meet former coach at Mountain Home
Tue, 09/03/2024 - 1:05pm
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By:
Sue Fiorino, contributing writer
Head Coach Joel Wyatt and the West Plains Zizzer football team crossed the border into Arkansas to play at Mountain Home on August 30, in a match that pits Wyatt against his friend and former Zizzer Coach, now the Bombers Head Coach, Steve Ary.
The two coaches worked together every day for fifteen years.
“We’re best friends. I was an assistant coach for him at Willow Springs for ten years and five more at Mountain Grove. We won 100 games together,” reported Coach Wyatt. “Our only regret is that we never won a big championship together.”
In spite of storied careers together and separately, both coaches are still seeking a State Championship title to crown their legacies.
As it stands, Coach Ary is already a legend. In 2015, he was inducted into the Missouri Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
That honor was given to Coach Ary even before his stint at West Plains where he completely transformed a losing program. In Ary’s seven seasons as the Head Coach of the Zizzers, the team went from a 0-10 record to 12-1 and the school’s first District Championship in 2018.
Coach Ary is doing it again in Mountain Home. He took on a football program that had not produced a winning season in 14 years.
“This will be his fifth season at Mountain Home. He’s already changed the whole culture down there,” said Coach Wyatt. “This might be the year for them.”
Coach Joel Wyatt hinted that this might be the year for the Zizzers too.
When asked if this Zizzer team could make it to the Final Four, Coach Wyatt replied, “Yeah, they really could. We’ve got the senior leadership and that’s what it takes when you get into those big games. You need those battle-tested guys. When you get deep into the playoffs, you need to rely on your seniors, and I’ve got a really good senior class this year.”
Coach Wyatt would know what it takes. He is well on his way to an impressive legacy as a head coach himself with a career record of 134 wins and 35 losses, six District Championships, and four trips to the Final Four. One of those District titles and final four trips was as recent as 2022 while at West Plains.