BHS football Coach Jeff Richards steps down as Football Coach as he takes on the new role of Bluffton Elementary Principal.

By Alex Hanna
Bluffton High School Athletic Director

There are a lot of things that go into being a head football coach that most people never see. We see the games on Friday nights, the wins and losses, and the excitement that comes with a successful season. What we don't always see are the early mornings, the long days, the hours in the weight room, the summer workouts, and all the time spent trying to make young people a little better than they were the day before.

As Coach Richards steps down as the Bluffton Pirates Head Varsity Football Coach, we want to take a moment to simply say thank you.

Coach Richards came to Bluffton in the fall of 2016 and has given the last ten years to our football program. His teams finished with a record of 71-50 and helped establish Bluffton as a program that could compete with anyone. From 2020 through 2026, the Pirates qualified for the OHSAA playoffs seven consecutive years. Along the way, the program reached the Regional Finals in 2023 and the State Semifinals in 2024. In 2023, Coach Richards was named Ohio's State Coach of the Year, a well deserved recognition of the work he and his staff put into building the program. Those accomplishments are worth celebrating, but they don't tell the whole story.

Anyone who has spent much time around our football program knows how much Coach Richards believed in the weight room. The hours he spent there were incredible. Early mornings, long afternoons, summer workouts, and countless hours helping our athletes get stronger, more confident, and better prepared. That kind of commitment doesn't always get noticed, and it certainly doesn't
show up in a win-loss record. But it matters. It mattered to the kids who showed up every day, the young men who learned to push themselves, and the teammates who grew together through those
experiences.

On top of coaching Football, Coach Richards also gave a great deal of his time to Bluffton wrestling program. He led our junior high wrestling program from 2019 to 2023 before taking over as Head Varsity Wrestling Coach from 2023 to 2026. His willingness to give his time and energy to multiple sports says a lot about his commitment to Bluffton student-athletes.

Coaching is a demanding job. It takes time away from family, evenings, weekends, and often most of your summer. It asks a lot of the people who do it, and even more from the families who support them. We don't always stop to recognize those sacrifices while the season is going on. Sometimes it takes a moment like this to step back and appreciate just how much someone has given.

When we look back on Coach Richards' time at Bluffton, we will certainly remember the playoff runs,
the big wins and the accomplishments. But we hope the players who came through the program remember the relationships, the lessons, the friendships, and the time.

How do you spell “love”? T.I.M.E.

Coach Richards, thank you. Thank you for the early mornings, the late nights, the hours in the weight room, the summers and the countless things you did that most people will never know about. Thank you for giving so much of yourself to Bluffton and our student-athletes.

We are grateful for the decade you gave our school and community. We wish you and your family
nothing but the best.