By BRIAN SMITH
Sports Editor

The wing-t is staying in St. Marys and the Roughriders have one of its biggest proponents coming in at head coach.

Mark Hollars was officially named head coach of the St. Marys football program on Wednesday night at the St. Marys City Schools board meeting.
“I’m really excited to be coming to St. Marys,” Hollars said after the meeting. “This is a place with a great tradition and a great foundation to build on, and it’s a great town for raising three young children and a family in. I’ve been looking for a town like this with great blue collar values and work ethic. I hope I can be here for a long time.”
Hollars is a disciple of Mike Vicars, who introduced him to the wing-t offense. Since, he has nudged it in different directions, including adding the option to the package.
“I’ve added things to it over the years,” he said. “I’ve run some option out of it and if you have the right players, I’ve thrown out of the wing-t, as well.”
Hollars said his first goal is to maintain a stout defense.
“You know, I’ve always been an offensive coach, but it has always started with a tough, hard-nosed defense with me. St. Marys already had that before I came here and I plan on continuing that. I think the wing-t and good defense go hand-in-hand with each other. St. Marys already had that before I came here and I plan on continuing that.”
”With the wing-t as an adopted football philosophy, Hollars coached in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania before his destination in St. Marys.
Hollars played college football at Eastern Michigan University, before an injury forced him to stop playing the sport. He finished his degree at Bowling Green State University before turning his attention to the coaching game.
His first opportunity came under then-Ada head coach Mike Vicars. Vicars was one of the original applicants for the St. Marys opening before withdrawing his name.
Hollars said he’s happy to begin a tenure at a school with a tradition and system in place. At North Olmstead he took over program that was 20-30 in its previous five seasons before he arrived. At Westlake, his latest stop, the program had not won seven games in 20 years before he arrived.
“I learned a lot at the places I’ve been before,” Hollars said. “At North Olmstead, we were able to install the wing-t and become very competitive. At Westlake we weren’t able to totally get things turned around, but we got the wing-t installed, got the youth programs started and played tough football.”
Hollars credits his time as an offensive coach at Gettysburg and was able to learn the intricacies of the system from Gettysburgh head coach Barry Streeter, who learned the famous Delaware Wing-T system from Tubby Raymond.
“I had run the wing-t before that, but Coach Streeter was able to show me so many things I could do with the system,” Hollars said.
He also coached at Baldwin-Wallace. “While we didn’t run the wing-t there, it was a great experience to coach in the OAC with and against the great programs in that conference,” Hollars said
St. Marys City Schools received 37 applicants for the position of head football coach over the last month since Doug Frye announced his resignation of the position in April.
Included in those coaching hopefuls were two current St. Marys assistant football coaches, a member of the  Roughriders’ 2004 state runner-up team, and numerous current high school football coaches at Ohio high schools.
Jim Hollman, a longtime St. Marys assistant and defensive coordinator, and Shane Patterson, a current St. Marys assistant, both applied for the position of head coach.
Among the  applicants was current College of St. Joseph’s student and football player Nick Yahl, who was a member of the Roughrider football team in the early 2000’s.
Sidney High School head coach Daniel Cairns was one of the current head coaches to apply.
The current head coach at Genoa High School,  Mike Vicars,  applied for the position before withdrawing his name from the search.
Vicars had ties to former St. Marys head coach Skip Baughman. Vicars learned the wing-t offense from Tim Spiess, a former Baughman assistant in 1989. Spiess then passed on the offense to Vicars, who used the system to great success both at Delta, where he coached Mount Union all-time rusher Nate Kmic and now at Genoa.
Former Wapakoneta head coach Kevin Fell applied for the position, as well. Fell led the Redskins to the 2006 Western Buckeye League title before leaving. He now is the head coach at Amherst Steele High School in northeast Ohio.
Philip Mauro is the head coach at Canal Winchester. He applied for the position before withdrawing his name. Mauro was a former head coach and had winning records at Massillon Jackson, Lancaster and Columbus DeSales before heading to Canal Winchester. Mauro played football at Denison.
Bill Speller is the current coach at Wayne Trace High School, another applicant for the position.
The current offensive coordinator of the Arena Football League’s Colorado Crush Christopher MacKeon applied for the spot.
St. Paris Graham head coach Stephen Graves also applied.
Former Miami University football player and current Rogers (Bentonville, Ark.) assistant coach Kent McCullough applied for the position.
There was also interest from college assistant and head coaches.
The formerhead coach at St. Francis Xavier University in Ontario, Canada, John Bloomfield, applied for the spot. He was let go after five years as the head coach of the X-Men.
Urbana University assistant Gene Clemons, Hiram College offensive coordinator Travis Everhart,  and Syracuse University graduate assistant Daniel Saparano, were among those involved in college athletics who applied.
The rest of the applicants included:
— Jordan Burdue, college student at Bluffton University.
— Tim Carver, assistant coach at Franklin County High School.
— Richard Case, assistant coach at Brookfield Central High School in Wisconsin.
— Billy Culver, assistant coach  at Miles College in Alabama.
— Lebarion Ellison, a former coach in Alabama.
— Delbert Enders, an assistant coach at Cuyahoga Falls High School.
— Daniel Everson, head coach at Morgan High School.
— Cory Hanes, assistant coach at Beallsville High School.
— Dean Hayes, assistant coach at Gilbert High School in Arizona.
— Terry Lee Hehl, defensive coordintaory at South Granville High School.
— Greg Henning, defensive coordintaory at St. Wendelin High School.
— Matthew Hodge, head coach at East Clinton High School.
— Mark Law, a junior high and freshman coach in Wapakoneta.
— Keenan Liechty, head coach of Calvert Catholic High School.
— Douglas Pryor, Jr., the freshman coach at Westerville North High School.
— Mike Shatzer, head coahc at South Stanly High School in North Carolina.
— Micahel Tucci, former head coach of Mount Gilead High School from 2006 to 2007.
— Jeffrey Weisner, head coach of Cotton High School in Minnesota..
— Philip Witker, assistant coach at East Rowan High School in North Carolina.
—Brian Woll, defensive coordinator at Westfall High School.
— Mike Yonnotti, former head coach at Canal Winchester High School from 1992-1999.