The NKyTribune will be offering focused coverage of NKY high school football throughout the season, thanks to support from St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine. See all our pre-season features on each of NKY’s 21 high school football teams and follow our coverage, including roundups each week at Northern Kentucky High School Football.
By John Lachmann
NKyTribune contributor
Despite having modest success in recent years, the Bellevue football team is on its fifth head coach in seven seasons. But John “Woody” McMillen, who was brought in this spring to replace outgoing Johnny Poynter, may be a fixture on the Tigers’ sidelines for the foreseeable future.
Bellevue head football coach Woody McMillen
McMillen, who started Walton-Verona’s football program and guided the first varsity team through its inaugural season in 2008, said Bellevue was on his short list of dream jobs when he decided to get back into head coaching.
“I told the players I could’ve retired (at Walton-Verona) and that would’ve been all right, but I chose to come here because I felt like Bellevue was a pretty special place,” McMillen said. “I got a real good feeling from Day One.”
McMillen had to step away from the Walton-Verona program after the 2008 season due to a family illness. He did return as an assistant coach for the Bearcats, who have blossomed into a consistent Class 2A winner.
But McMillen decided to make another career move when the Bellevue job became available. “I had been feeling an itch to get back into football full-time and wanted to be a head coach again,” he said.
In 2009, Bellevue posted a 9-4 record in coach David Eckstein’s final year at the helm. Eckstein has since become the school’s principal and there’s been three other head coaches since he left, but the Tigers have remained competitive through it all. Bellevue finished with a 7-5 record each of the last four years, losing in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.
McMillen was quite familiar with the Bellevue football program’s history. He was previously an assistant at Ludlow, which has been in the local Class 1A district with Bellevue, Beechwood and Dayton for several decades.
All four of those teams have won state championships, McMillen noted. But Beechwood has been the dominant force in the small-school district in recent years and stood in the way of Bellevue’s title aspirations.
“They’re an obstacle, but they’re an example of how to do things and how to measure yourself by,” McMillen said of Beechwood. “They have a great tradition of success. For 30-some-odd years dating back to the early 80s, they’ve been the measuring stick, not just in Northern Kentucky but in the entire state.”
Bellevue hired McMillen shortly after the conclusion of last season. That gave him time to talk athletes into joining the team this fall. The Tigers had just 28 players listed on last year’s roster, but he said the current number is in the upper 40s.
“We’ve gone out of our way to appeal to the younger players,” McMillen said. “We don’t have a ton of older players, but I really tried to hit the ground running and tried to establish relationships with the kids, and we’ve had some success doing that.”
Bellevue no longer has record-setting quarterback Tate Grainger to lead the offense. He graduated along with the top rusher and leading receiver on last year’s team. But the new coach is impressed with his offensive line, which should help the new skill players adapt to their roles.
Coming off of heavy graduation losses and facing a new coaching system, the Bellevue team has some major question marks this season. For the first time in a few years, however, the Tigers have a coach who plans to be with the program for an extended time.
BELLEVUE TIGERS
COACH: John “Woody” McMillen (4-6 in one season).
LAST YEAR: 7-5 record, lost in second round of Class 1A state playoffs.
THIS YEAR: Class 1A, District 4 with Beechwood, Dayton, Ludlow.
2015 SCHEDULE
Aug. 21 – at Gallatin County, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 28 – DAYTON, 7 p.m.
Sept. 4 – BROSSART, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11 – at Newport, 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 – HOLMES, 7 p.m.
Sept. 25 – at Bardstown Bethlehem, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9 – BEECHWOOD, 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 – at Dayton, 7 p.m.
Oct. 23 – at Ludlow, 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 – HOLY CROSS, 7 p.m
See the previous prep football stories here:
Bishop Brossart High School
Ludlow High School
Campbell County High School
Highlands High School
Dixie Heights
