The winningest coach in college football is a name most fans have never heard.

Larry Kehres spent 27 years building one of the all-time great collegiate powerhouse programs at Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. He retired in 2012 to assume the fulltime duties as the school’s athletic director.

While he roamed the sidelines, the Raiders collected 332 wins against only 24 losses and three ties. During that same time, the school won 11 NCAA Division III National Championships and 23 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships while achieving 21 undefeated regular seasons.

All of this translates to a .929 winning percentage, which is the best of all coaches at any level of college football.

Not surprisingly, Kehres was selected for enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame this year, his first year of eligibility. The 2017 class includes household names like Peyton Manning, Steve Spurrier, Kirk Gibson, Marshall Faulk and Brian Urlacher.

Yet, Kehres will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his better-known counterparts in New York City this coming Dec. 5 at the National Football Foundation’s 60th annual awards dinner, which will honor this year’s hall of fame class.

And it all began on a high school sideline.

Kehres’ first turn as a head football coach was at Johnstown Monroe High School in Johnstown, Ohio. Located in the shadow of Mount Union, the coach’s ability to lead quickly caught the eye of the nearby school. In 1974, Kehres was tabbed to be an assistant coach for Mount Union, where he would cut his teeth for the next 11 seasons.

In 1986, he finally got his turn as head coach at the college level, and the rest is history.

Kehres won numerous personal accolades while serving as head coach, including:

• Record-breaking 17-time American Football Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year
• Eight-time AFCA National Coach of the Year
• Six-time OAC Coach of the Year
• NCAA Division III winner of the Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year award (received in 2008, which was only the second time it was awarded)

He also coached numerous award winning athletes, including:

• 260 All-Americans
• 220 first team All-Ohio Athletic Conference selections
• Five Gagliardi Trophy winners, which is presented to the NCAA Division III's top all-around football player
• 2 Academic All-Americans of the Year for Division III Football
   

For those who follow the U.S. National Team, you may be familiar with the Kehres name. In 2011, he served as the offensive coordinator for the U.S. National Team as they won the IFAF World Championship gold medal by beating Canada by the score of 50-7.   

Even as he is about to step foot into the hallowed ground of the Hall of Fame, Kehres remains humble.

"I think it's a little bit like winning a big game," Kehres said to the Canton Rep, regarding his selection to the Hall of Fame. "You just think about how fortunate you are to have good enough players and coaches to do it."

And this amazing career began on the sidelines of a small high school in rural Ohio.

 

Photo courtesy of Facebook: University of Mount Union