Bill Keplinger is fired up and ready for his latest coaching position. The longtime Middletown-Odessa-Townsend youth football coach will orchestrate the first-year Smyrna Middle School program this fall.
“It’s an exciting opportunity,” Keplinger said. “It’s a first-year program and I like getting in on the ground floor. I like the community, and Smyrna has always been proud of its football programs. If I can help continue that at the middle school level, then I’ll have done the job.”
Tryouts start August 25
Tryouts begin on August 25 for the seventh and eighth graders who want to play. The first scrimmage is on September 17 against Seaford, and a regular season schedule follows on Thursday afternoons against teams from Kent and Sussex counties.
Assistant coaches include Roger Holt, Mike Hood and ex-Middletown player Scott Holmes. The staff will follow the same gameplans and strategies employed by the Smyrna High program. Keplinger is working with the head varsity coach Clay Lloyd varsity staff and players during the summer 7-on-7 passing league sessions.
“Coach Lloyd has a good idea of what he wants to do, and we’re going to do the same things as a lead-in to high school ball,” said Keplinger, a Wheelersburg, Ohio native who is a former semi-pro player and owner who had a one-year stint coaching women’s professional football.
Keplinger lives in Cecilton, Md. and is a truck driver for Schagrin Gas Company.
