FRANKLIN — Brad Childers is back at the Franklin High School football helm.
Franklin athletic director John Berry announced earlier this week the hiring of Childers, who will prepare for his second stint as the Wildcats head coach.
Childers — the coach at FHS from 2014 to 2020 — takes over for Matt Muncy, who left Franklin after one season to accept the head job at Miamisburg.
“I’m really blessed at this opportunity — humbled and so forth — and have an unbelievable amount of support,” Childers said. “Just looking forward to the challenges of making sure our kids are being taken care of and letting them know and our coaches know that we’re here for them.”
Childers said he met with the team earlier this week to lay out expectations and introduce himself. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-6 record and haven’t had a winning season since 2020 — Childers’ last year of his first stint.
“I’ve never coached any of these current kids,” Childers said. “I told these kids that I’ll have seven years left in my career and that they’ll always know if they want to follow these steps to success and do things right and pick each other up — believing your coaches — that we can do this no matter how our season goes.
“I shared a lot within the day,” Childers added. “I said these things work, and if you want to be successful, you can make it your legacy by looking back in 5 to 10 years and say, ‘That’s my class that turned things around. That’s what you’ll get to live with for the rest of your life.’
“I’m really thankful and blessed at the opportunity for the administration in trusting the process. But this is all for the kids — this has nothing to do with Brad.”
Childers has over 26 years of coaching experience. In his seven years prior at Franklin, the Wildcats went 49-22, captured two Southwestern Buckeye League titles, made four playoff appearances and had the program’s only 11-win season in 2016.
Childers has coached numerous Franklin athletes to all-league, all-Southwest District and all-State honors.
“Sometimes what you are looking for is staring you right in the face, and that was the case here,” Berry said. “Throughout the process, we had several very good candidates. But at the end of the day, we wanted someone with head coaching experience who was familiar with Franklin and the SWBL. Brad checks all of those boxes.
“We believe he will be able to hit the ground running and get the football program going in the right direction.”
Childers said when he decided to step away from coaching at Franklin during his first tenure, it was to focus on himself and his family.
Now, he said it was a good time to jump back in.
“I see what direction things need to go and that the kids need some stability,” Childers said. “These seniors have been through a lot, and I told them and the guys that are on staff that I’m retaining, and I told the administration that you want these kids to have the best Wildcat football experience that they can.
“We had some great teams. We had some great success, and we’re going to get after it. We’re going to hold them accountable. We’re going to take care of doing things right and getting everyone on board.”
Childers has been a teacher within the Franklin school district for 26 years. He resides with his wife Debbie in Middletown, and they’re a blended family of three sons (Chris, Shane and Drew), two daughters (Taylor and Tori) and four grandchildren (ReesLyn, Everly, Stevie Rae and Chase).
“I’m excited to get things rolling,” Childers said. “The first thing I’m focusing on is commitment. What’s your discipline level? Are you paying attention to details? Are you going to tuck your shirt in? Are you going to be on time? Are you willing to make the sacrifice for the guy beside you?
“We talked about the opportunity to just bring the energy. It’s a choice,” Childers added. “If you bring the energy and you’re focused and you know what has to be done and you know our expectations on what it means to win in the classroom, that’s going to carry over to the field. It’s proven.
“We have a vision for the entire program and where we’re trying to take our kids. We’ve got to get our kids excited in the student section and have the school behind us and make the community proud. In the end, it will all come together.”
