Sheridan football has new coach for first time in 6 decades. Expectations are same as always — win

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

SHERIDAN – When Larry 'Bud' Wright was hired to coach the Sheridan High School football team, he was the Blackhawks' fifth coach in nine years. He took over a program that had not posted a winning record in eight years.
The year was 1966.
For nearly six decades, Wright patrolled the sidelines for Sheridan football. He won a state record 464 games during his coaching career, bringing nine state championships to this Hamilton County community and coaching three generations of players.
One of those players, Jake Chesney, will coach the first game in the post-Bud Wright era when the Blackhawks play Greenwood Christian on Friday night to open the 2025 season. Wright, all of 5-foot-4 ¼, can still cast a long shadow at school where the stadium is named after the longtime coach.
'I feel the responsibility,' said Chesney, a 2016 Sheridan graduate. 'I don't feel the pressure. I feel the responsibility because I was born and raised in this program. In a football family in a football town. The history of the program, the school and all the success we've had, yeah, we've got to make the alumni proud. It's about the guys on the field, but we have an obligation to play our butts off. That part is never going to change.'
After graduating from Trine University, where he played football, Chesney returned to Sheridan to coach on Wright's staff for two years. Last year, before he was hired as the Carmel coach, Wright's son Kevin coached on the staff with Chesney. Kevin's experience as a successful coach in high school and college was obvious to Chesney, who said he 'tried to be as much of a sponge as I possibly could.'
'If he would have allowed me, I would have stayed around for hours just to watch him draw stuff up,' Chesney said. 'I learned so much from him in our limited time. He's truly the best. It was a huge blessing not only being under Bud but being able to coach with Kevin.'
Sheridan football has always had a family feel. That will not change on Chesney's watch. His father, Don, was a volunteer coach on Wright's staff for years. When Jake took the job, he did not even have to ask his dad about coaching the defense.
'Yeah, no,' he said with a laugh. 'It was almost unspoken. It was off and running.'
His older brother, Garrett, will coach the quarterbacks. Younger brother Luke is also on the coaching staff. There is a mix of coaches who have been on staff previously and those who were added.
'You would think it's almost a ground zero kind of start,' said Alex Cravens, Sheridan's senior running back/linebacker. 'There is a new coaching staff. But it's the same culture as it's been. Nothing has changed there. It's the same level of responsibility for each person. It's been great having those guys keep us in check.'
Don Chesney, who married into the Sheridan tradition when he met wife Violet, a Sheridan graduate, displayed that fire on Friday during the Blackhawks' scrimmage against Crawfordsville. When a starter was flagged for a personal foul, Chesney quickly made it clear that behavior would not fly.
'Don't take away my yards!' Chesney yelled.
The player later apologized to his team after the game. But the defense did not allow Crawfordsville to score a touchdown during the scrimmage, a sign the message is getting through.
'It's something I was born into and raised around but it's also the personality of the team, too,' Jake Chesney said. 'We're high energy. We're upbeat. We're positive. Shoot, if you aren't fired up to play football on Friday night, go play soccer. But everyone out here is fired up and ready to go. That's the personality of the staff and the personality of the team.'
The expectations are the same as always: win. Sheridan goes into the season unranked in Class A after a 7-6 season, but the program has won three consecutive sectional championships. There are 12 seniors, including Cravens (1,077 rushing yards, eight touchdowns) and Jon Barnes (662 rushing yards, eight TDs). Senior receiver Chance Spencer will be a playmaker on the edge for junior quarterback Brock Hagan.
The offense was a little hit-and-miss against Crawfordsville but did put the ball in the end zone three times. Sheridan will still lean on the downhill running game Wright made a staple of Sheridan football but expect the Blackhawks to take to the air more frequently.
'We've got some things to clean up on offense, but I think we did pretty well for not having any scrimmages this summer,' Hagan said. 'Once we get everything cleaned up, we'll be looking good. It's a bit of a change but everybody is buying in.'
The biggest change, of course, is on the sideline. It was a bit of an uneasy split last year for Wright and Sheridan. The school said it had agreed with Wright during the season it would be his final year as coach. Wright disagreed, saying the administration forced him out. He is helping out at North Miami this season.
The man who replaced Wright has nothing but respect for his former coach.
'I've been handed a silver platter,' Chesney said. 'As a player, my whole life, Bud Wright has been a big part of all of that. I'm thankful that he allowed me to come back after college and spend the handful of years I did with him. The discipline, the fundamentals. He's old-school football. Everybody knows it. He's a football guy through and through.'
The next chapter of Sheridan football probably will not last 59 years. It will look the same in some ways, different in others.
'We're having fun out there,' Cravens said. 'Everyone bought in and is having a great time. Have fun, do your job. I think that's what everyone is doing.'