With a dad for a coach and a mom for an educator, new head football coach Ty Wisdom always knew he wanted to be a coach, but his path to where he is now wasn’t what he dreamt up as a little kid.
After graduating from Lexington High School, Wisdom went to Nebraska Kearney to play. But when he was injured, he was forced to the sidelines, allowing him to shine in a new position.
Wisdom’s journey then led him to Millard South, where he was an assistant for the team, but when he was offered a job down in Phoenix, his path took him somewhere different.
But after time apart from his family, who is based here in Omaha, and the retirement of longtime coach, Andy Means, Wisdom knew it was time to come back home.
“Being here before, knowing the atmosphere and the type of program that Coach Means built here, it was something I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “It’s historically always been a really good program and one that’s like family to me. That was the biggest thing was that I wanted my kids to be around all our family. My wife’ family’s back here, my family’s back here, so we wanted our kids to be here.”
Even with his history as an assistant coach for the Patriots, a new head coach is always an adjustment for any program.
“Obviously it’s an adjustment, but I think it’s been good,” Wisdom said. “Anytime you come into a new place, it takes time to build a relationship, build the trust, and not everything’s going to be easy. But we work on it on a day-to-day basis. If we can continue to work at it and trust each other, that’s what will make us successful.” As the season progresses, Wisdom looks to strengthen the foundation of this program and build on the success it has seen in recent years.
“I want these kids to be so successful. And that’s it,” Wisdom said. “It’s more about the accountability piece on the field. And that’s why I love football so much. It is hard. It’s a hard game. These kids work their butt off, they’re in the weight room at 6:30 inn the morning, and we won’t get done with practice till 6:30 at night. It’s a lot, but it prepares them for life. We’ve got great kids here. We’re going to get this thing turned around and come out stronger together.”