Wedig excited to lead another program from obscurity to pinnacle
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
WALWORTH – What more can Rodney Wedig do?
The Big Foot teacher, who coached the Chiefs football team the past 11 seasons, has a resume at the school reserved for folk lore and how-to coaching tutorials.
Wedig coached the Chiefs to a state title in 2009, state runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2012, and, oh by the way, has won 52 straight Rock Valley Conference games, good for seven straight championships.
The 46-year-old father of five, including triplets, brought the Big Foot football program out of the doldrums of both the old Southern Lakes and Rock Valley conferences and into the light of state superiority.
In an email Wednesday morning, Wedig said he will leave Big Foot for the head football coaching position at Division 1 Beloit Memorial, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999.
But why would someone give up one of the best high school coaching jobs in the state for an upstart?
“It is really not a matter of wanting to leave Big Foot,” he said. “The 11 years I spent here have been remarkable. I have worked with some great coaches and great young men and had more success than I ever imagined. I just feel this is a unique opportunity and there really isn’t much more to accomplish professionally at Big Foot.”
Memorial administrator Steve McNeal has Brodhead and Lake Geneva Badger ties, so he knew of Wedig’s success.
Wedig was at Camp Randall Stadium enjoying some state football action a couple weeks back when Badger Athletic Director Jim Kluge texted Wedig and said he had to introduce him to McNeal.
The rest is history.
“I have to admit that Beloit was not even on my radar before I talked to Steve, but he really sold me on the possibilities at Beloit Memorial,” Wedig said.
It’s not official yet. The Beloit Memorial School Board will meet Tuesday to approve the hiring. But it’s happening.
Currently a Walworth resident, Wedig will coach and teach at Memorial, a school with 2,000 students roughly 25 miles from Big Foot. Wedig said the family has a few months to decide if they will move to Beloit.
Friends and family would hate to see him go. The outcry of support Tuesday night was incredible when Wedig posted this announcement on his Facebook page.
“Bittersweet. The past 11 years at Big Foot have been more rewarding and remarkable than I had ever dreamed,” he said. “There is nothing that will ever top it. But, I always am looking for the next big challenge. Can’t wait to try to build a program at Beloit Memorial while never forgetting the great young men I have worked with at Big Foot.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, only 20 hours later, that post generated 80 likes and 40 comments, as well as five shares. People love Rodney, and he treats everyone he encounters like a friend.
One former player commented, “Coach, you taught all your players a lot on and off the field. You made Big Foot football believe they could be winners. Thank you for the memories, wish you could stay.”
His reach is well beyond the classroom and the football field. Wedig captivated state football fans with 2009’s state championship, and he has helped produce an NFL player, Dallas Cowboys rookie Travis Frederick, and more than 20 other college players, including current stars Michael Walker (D2 St. Cloud State), Carter Hehr (D1 Arizona), Garett Cary (D1 North Dakota) and former state offensive player of the year Mason Dixon (Beloit College).
More than a coach
Personally, Wedig always showed me loads of respect, even though I was some punk 26-year-old rookie in 2008 when I covered my first Chiefs game. He treated me with the same patience he would someone from the Wisconsin State Journal or USA Today.
A friendly, dedicated coach, Wedig would stay sometimes an hour or more after games, walk me to his room, and print out a box score for me. You don’t see that with a lot of coaches. Anything I needed, he would see that it was taken care of. And even if you were good, “Do you need anything else?” was a common final sentence, before thanks of course.
Wedig loves football. He loves teaching kids, and he loves Big Foot. He loves his family, first and foremost, and Big Foot is now part of his extended family.
It couldn’t have been an easy decision for a man who saw his kids shine on the sports fields and courts at 401 Devils Lane.
When asked what he will remember most, it wasn’t a generic answer. He needed a list:
– The win over Edgerton my first year to ruin their chance at a conference title and put us into the playoffs for the first time in school history
– The first run to state with Frederick, Fogerty, Crusan, Schaid group
– The Level 4 Lodi game when we trailed 21-7 at halftime and won (2009)
– The state championship
– The back-to-back last-second wins vs. Brodhead and McFarland (2010)
– The state game vs. Somerset, one of the best state final games ever played (2012)
– 2013 NFL Draft night (Frederick)
– Every player that made the commitment to winning and got the most of their abilities
– The great young people I have worked with in the classroom
– The privilege of coaching my two oldest sons
I’m sure the guy could go on for days with many more instances, but that long list shows how memorable his time at Big Foot was.
Everything wasn’t always roses. Rodney’s son, Jake, suffered a severe knee injury in 2010 and had to miss a lot of action.
Early exits from the playoffs in 2011 and 2013, and a 7-2 loss last month at home to Platteville, were flat-out shocking.
Also, during the 2013 season, Wedig received a threat from an angry parent along the lines of “Play my son or else.” He said he never had anything like that happen before and questioned momentarily whether he even wanted to coach anymore.
Wedig needed security at the home game after that heated exchange.
But like he always has, Wedig overcame. His family, including his mother, still showed up to every game. Chief Nation kept packing the stands, and the Chiefs went about their business.
Humble beginnings
He got his start coaching in the middle of the state, at a little school called Almond-Bancroft, and turned them into a winner. Then, he took Big Foot to the next level.
Now, it’s Beloit’s turn. One of the largest schools in the Big 8 Conference, Memorial hasn’t had success since the 1990s.
Though they haven’t been to a state title in the past 30 years, the Purple Knights play in a brutal conference with the likes of Madison Memorial, Janesville Parker and Sun Prairie.
Wedig has dominated the Division 7 and 4 levels, but now it’s time for him to take on the cream of the crop in D1. Knowing his positive style of motivation and ability to take whatever talent he is given and put it in the right position to succeed, Wedig should be fine. Correction, he will be fine. There’s no doubt in my mind that Beloit Memorial will be a state high school football force in a few years.
“I hope to help a group of young men that are not used to winning to believe in themselves and each other,” Wedig said. “I want to help them improve. I am going into this job just like I did when I came to Big Foot. We will look to improve every day. Like we say every day at practice, let’s get better today.”
