THE VILLAGE OF NEW MIAMI — New Miami High School announced that Andy Stuckert will be its next head football coach. Stuckert was approved by the school board Thursday night.
Stuckert is a graduate of Fairfield High School (2001) and played college football for Hanover College (2005). Prior to arriving at New Miami, he was an offensive assistant coach at Northwest, Little Miami and Hamilton.
“I’m excited to be able to have this opportunity to lead this group of kids at New Miami,” Stuckert told The Report. “I’m all in for these kids. This is about continuing to build a program that is already on the tracks and rolling.”
Stuckert takes over for Jessie Hubbard, who took the Madison head football coach position earlier this year.
The Vikings had a 16-6 overall record in two seasons under Hubbard and had their best season in school history at 10-1 this past fall. New Miami hosted its only home playoff appearance in a 45-15 loss to New Bremen back in December. The Vikings lost to Fort Loramie in the first round of the Division VII playoffs in 2018.
“I’m excited to get to this point. Football is a year-round thing, and I’m ready to get the process started and going,” Stuckert said. “I’m itching to get into the weight room with the kids.”
Stuckert noted that with the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, he’s going to be patient. Eager, but patient.
“It proves true that getting to know your kids and your players, and gaining relationships with them helps any high school program succeed,” Stuckert said. “Unfortunately, I can’t do that right now. But I’ll be patient and look forward to when we can get things up off the ground.
“I’m going to make sure that I do my part to improve or at least instill confidence in these kids,” Stuckert added. “I don’t have an ego in this. I just want people to look at what I hope to accomplish at New Miami and say, ‘You helped my kid get to where he needed to be.’ I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
New Miami athletic director Eric Hayes said he’s looking forward to bringing Stuckert on board.
“We received a great deal of interest in this opening, and our committee did a thorough job interviewing several highly qualified candidates,” Hayes told The Report. “Coach Stuckert proved to be the top choice to take over our program in terms of his solid character and leadership qualities, and for his ability to be a positive influence on our student-athletes.
“He has an excellent background as an assistant coach, and while this is his first opportunity to lead a program as a head coach, we’re confident that he’s ready for the challenge,” Hayes added.
Stuckert noted that his past opportunities have shaped his mindset heading into his first head coach position.
“I can’t thank (Hamilton football coach) Nate Mahon enough because he took a chance on me,” Stuckert said. “He is successful, and you tend to pick things up when you are around great coaches. I’m excited to be able to have the chance to put my spin on things. It’s been nice to be around a lot of great football minds for me to be able to get to where I’m at.”
Stuckert knows that he’s coming into an upcoming senior class that has undefeated talent.
“I’ve done my research on this team, and the stats are blowing me away,” Stuckert said. “You’ve got all-conference talent all over the field. Coach Hubbard did a great job with these guys, and I certainly have some big shoes to fill.
“Right now, this is going to be about the senior class and making sure that the younger guys coming up are going to follow suit so that we can continue to build a program after those seniors graduate and so on,” Stuckert added.
“I’m looking forward to sitting down with the team and do this all together.”
New Miami opens up the 2020 season at Gamble Montessori on Aug. 28.
