OSCODA -- A new head football coach is on the job for Oscoda Area High School, returning to his home state after five years in Texas.
He is Melvin Richendollar, who also coached wrestling and assisted in football at Livonia Churchill High School (1988-92), played at Michigan State University in 1986 and Hillsdale College for three years (1982-84), and was a standout high school gridder in Belleville, Mich.
In Texas last year, he was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach as second assistant on a nine-person varsity staff at Kingsville High School.
He was previously special teams coordinator and defensive line coach for three years there.
In 1992-93 he took the Wichita Falls, Texas Notre Dame High School football team to the playoffs for their first time in 15 years.
Richendollar and his wife, Peggy, were seeking to return to Michigan with their nine-month-old son, Nathan, when the Oscoda head coaching post opened.
He wanted a head coaching shot earlier than the two-three years he would likely have to wait in Texas. His resume is headed with the objective: "To develop and build a winning football program as head football coach/teacher."
Well aware that the Oscoda football program has had just one winning season in the last 13, has won just two games in three years, and has a very tough schedule this year, Richendollar said he still sees "a lot of positive things." Oscoda's football facilities, for one. The programs put into place by previous head coaches, for another, he said.
He is also impressed with the dedication of players he has seen in the weight room this summer, as might be expected of a powerlifting advocate and former head wrestling coach. (He was head powerlifting coach at both Texas schools and previously was head wrestling coach at Livonia Churchill.) For example, in viewing films of last year's games, he noted, "A lot of kids were hitting hard and never gave up. They had a good attitude towards football,"
Richendollar does not predict a turnaround in the football fortunes, however.
"You are really limited as far as what you can accomplish to the talent you have," he said, adding that his playoff appearance as a head coach in Texas was as much due to a 2,100-yard running back as anything.
"I believe in evaluating ourselves based on how we play, executing techniques at our position," he said. "That's what we're going to judge success on."
"Team success, he added, "will depend on how well we help each other, communicate and execute."
While still at Livonia Churchill, Richendollar coined an acronym for his credo: HHNQ: hard hitting, never quitting." He challenges, "I dare you to be a champion" and lists six goals:
- To break your own record
- To outstrip yesterday
- To bear trials calmly
- To whip your temper inside and out
- To give every ounce of energy to each task
- To do your work each day with more force and a finer finish.
"I see too many young people who think luck plays a large role in success. I believe the harder you work, the luckier you get," said Richendollar.
"If we are a hard hitting, disciplined team that never quits, we are going to be successful, every game, win or lose." Attracting more students to the football program is a major objective.
"I'd like to see every single male at the high school come out for football, he said.
"My basic feeling is that it is a pride thing: your town versus the other town. Football is really where you judge the pride of your community," Richendollar stated.
Made aware that some feel competition of boys soccer in the fall attracts some from the football field, he said, "Maybe, but my belief is that football is the man's sport."
He speaks as one who has played the game at the top level. He did aspire once to play professionally and was briefly a member of the New England Patriots but found out he was too short for the pro game.
During his senior year in college, at Michigan State University, he started on an offensive line for a team that went 6-5 with a suspect field goal kicker. Tony Mandarich, Mark Ingram, Percy Snow, Andre Rison and Lorenzo White are some of the more famous names on that 1986 Spartan team. Richendollar had transferred to MSU, sitting out a year, after three seasons as an offensive tackle at Hillsdale College where he made second team all-conference.
At Belleville High School he was an all-area lineman despite missing half the season with a knee injury in his senior year.
And he also wrestled in high school, achieving second place all-state at 198 pounds as a senior. He was sixth at 185 pounds in his junior year.
Richendollar's bachelor's degree from MSU is in biology and general science, subjects he hopes to teach at Oscoda.
He took his teaching certificate training at the University of Detroit. In addition to certification for grades seven through 12, he is certified to teach gifted and talented programs, advanced placement biology, cooperative learning, tools for tomorrow, assertive discipline, cooperative discipline, and technology and the classroom.
"I try to give them both (coaching and academics) equal weight," he said. "I gave both as much as I could." Larry Schroeder, Oscoda Area Schools director of curriculum and personnel, called Richendollar, "a fit for what we wanted, the best teacher and coach we could get."
"The fact that he wants to be in northern Michigan makes him even more of a fit," said Schroeder, noting the Richendollars had a place to stay in Oscoda immediately because her parents have a local condo.
"He has shown a lot of commitment to us," Schroeder added, who said the one objective stated to Richendollar is to increase the numbers out for football.
"You can't expect to get commitment from the kids unless you show commitment yourself," said Schroeder. "We would like to increase our numbers from 60 out for football to 100. Then inevitably things will improve."
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