The road: The coaches

By the time Bob Sexton took over as head football coach for the Beatrice Orangemen in 2003, a construction project was under way as prior coaches and teams had started paving the road toward a potential Class B state title.

It was up to Sexton’s crew, however, to complete the job.

With their win over Lincoln Pius in the state semifinals last weekend, Sexton and his staff took down the “under construction” signs and declared the road “open” from Beatrice to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln for this Saturday’s championship game.

Beatrice will take on the Aurora Huskies in the state final, which is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Sexton began his football coaching career in Beatrice as a varsity assistant in 1987 under former head coach Kurt Glather. He also served under interim head coach Jim Bowers and former head coach Dallas Jensen.

When Sexton first started as an assistant for the Orangemen, he said it was hard to imagine ever playing in a state championship game.

After going 2-7 during his first season, the Orangemen had three straight 0-9 years in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

“Early on, we were still playing a Class A football schedule and it would have been very difficult to build a program here at that level,” Sexton said.

Sexton said numbers are important in football, as in number of players out for the team each year.

“Numberwise, being in Class A killed us,” Sexton said, adding the Orangemen were always playing schools with larger enrollments, more players on their sidelines and deeper talent pools.

Once Beatrice moved to Class B, however, Sexton began to see the potential for building a successful program.

In the spring of 2003, when Jensen announced his retirement, Sexton was the former coaches’ hand-picked choice for successor.

At the time Jensen turned the program over to Sexton, he said he believed his former assistant would do a “tremendous” job of getting the Orangemen to the next level.

Knowing Sexton had “always aspired” to be a head coach and had waited patiently for his opportunity, Jensen said when he retired he believed he was leaving the Orangemen program “in good hands.”

And, six years later, the former coach hasn’t changed his opinion one bit.

“I made the recommendation that Bob take my place and I’m sure glad the school followed through with it,” Jensen said.

“I was very tickled Bob got the job. I felt the program was in good hands and he’s proved me right.”

Jensen, who is living in Plattsmouth following his retirement, said Sexton had “numerous opportunities” to leave Beatrice and become a head coach elsewhere.

“He said he was willing to stick around as an assistant as long as I was going to be the head coach,” Jensen said. “He was satisfied with that.”

Sexton said he was “very content” with being an assistant coach under Jensen.

“Dallas Jensen is a great guy to work for and I learned a lot of valuable lessons from him,” Sexton said.

When the opportunity arose to take the head job, though, Sexton said he was ready.

“I’m very thankful for the people giving me the opportunity,” Sexton said.

Six years later, Sexton and the rest of the Orangemen coaching staff “deserve” the opportunity to be in the state title game, Jensen said.

The former coach said he remembers sitting in the Memorial Stadium pressbox one year watching a Class B state final with members of his coaching staff, several of whom are still currently coaching at Beatrice.

“We were all talking about how it would be nice to come down here (Memorial Stadium) and actually play,” Jensen said.

“It’s a dream come true for those guys and they deserve it.”

Assistant coaches Bill Bruhn, Dennis Coudeyras and Larry Vetrovsky and volunteer assistant John Bartels have all been with the Orangemen program since Sexton took over as head coach.

Coudeyras and Vetrovsky also both served as assistant coaches, along with Sexton, under Jensen. Coudeyras is a 16-year veteran of the Orangemen program, while Vetrovsky has been with the team 14 years.

Travis Schuster joined the coaching staff three years ago as an assistant and Todd Ekart two years ago.

Sexton said he’s “thankful” for the group of assistant coaches he has.

“I can’t stress enough what a good coaching staff I have,” Sexton said. “They’ve been very tolerant of me.”

Schuster, who serves as the team’s offensive coordinator and works with the quarterbacks and receivers, is a Beatrice product who played for Sexton when he was an assistant and competed for him when he was head boys track coach.

“He (Schuster) was a state championship hurdler for me,” Sexton said, smiling. “He doesn’t look like a hurdler now, but he ran pretty well for a big, old guy.”

Once Schuster graduated in 1993, he went on to the University of Nebraska at Kearney and played football. He then coached high school football in Texas before returning to Nebraska and taking a coaching job at Lincoln North Star.

Sexton said he “stole” Schuster from North Star.

“He (Schuster) is as good an offensive mind as I’ve been around in 22 years,” Sexton said. “He is very demanding of the kids and he’s very confident. He does an outstanding job and I’m glad to have him.”

Coudeyras serves as the team’s offensive line coach and is “as big a realist as you’ll find,” Sexton said.

“He (Coudeyras) doesn’t ask the kids to be super heros, but he does ask them to play hard,” Sexton said. “He does a great job with our offensive line.”

Sexton said when it comes to coaching the lineman he just stays out of Coudeyras’ way and lets him do it.

Ekart is the newest coach on the staff, but has been a good addition, Sexton said.

“Todd is a very, very good young football coach and will make a great head coach sometime soon,” Sexton said.

Along with being a varsity assistant and working with the team’s running backs, Ekart is also the offensive coordinator for the Beatrice junior varsity team.

On the other side of the ball, Bruhn serves as the team’s defensive coordinator.

“Bill works great with these young kids,” Sexton said. “He’s very low key. He’s not going to do much hollering or screaming, but he does a great job with our defensive backs.”

Sexton said the play of Beatrice’s defensive backs this season is “as good as it’s ever been.”

Vetrovsky works with the interior defensive linemen, including the tackles and noseguards.

Along with his defensive duties, Vetrovsky also coordinates all of the Orangemen’s special teams.

“Part of the admission fee to watch a football game should be just to watch Vetro on the sideline,” Sexton said. “He gets so excited — either upset by the way they’re playing or jumping up and down because of how well they’re playing.”

Sexton said Vetrovsky is “into” every game.

“He (Vetrovsky) does a great job with the special teams,” Sexton said.

Bartels works with the team’s defensive ends.

“John does a lot of little things for me since he’s no longer involved in school,” Sexton said. “He puts in a tremendous amount of time.”

Other volunteers who help with the varsity program include Brian May, who handles pressbox duties on the defensive side of the ball and helps with the linebackers; Harry Campbell, who coaches the freshmen and helps spot from the pressbox for the varsity; Eric Martin, who works with the kickers and punters; Mike Lindblom, who helps with the offensive line; and Grant Jones, who coaches the freshmen and also helps with the varsity.

“It’s great to have so many guys who want to take the time to work with our young men,” Sexton said, “especially when they don’t have kids playing and are just out here helping us out.

“They recognize a good program and they want to be part of it, but mainly they just want to work with the kids.”

Having the right mix of assistant coaches has helped Sexton build a consistent playoff-contending program at Beatrice.

During 2003,  Sexton’s first year at the Orangemen helm, the team finished 5-4 overall

The following year, the team made its first state playoff appearance under Sexton, falling in the opening round to Holdrege, 31-6, and finishing with a 5-5 overall record.

During Sexton’s third year as head coach, the Orangemen began their current four-year streak as a state semifinals.

In 2005, the Orangemen finished with the team’s first 10-win season, going 10-2, and defeating Crete and Aurora in the state playoffs before falling to McCook.

In 2006, the team finished 9-3 with playoff wins over Omaha Gross and Omaha Skutt before losing to Elkhorn.

In 2007, the team went 9-3 with postseason victories over Waverly and Gross and a semifinal loss to Crete.

This year, the Orangemen opened the postseason with wins over Ralston and Skutt and then claimed the school’s first-ever state semifinal win over Lincoln Pius.

Heading into this Saturday’s state championship game against Aurora at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, the Orangemen are 11-1.

Currently, Sexton is third on the all-time wins list for Beatrice head coaches with 49 and is fourth all-time in winning percentage.

Sexton also knows something about winning state championships, although so far it hasn’t been on the football field.

Sexton was involved with the Beatrice boys track and field program for 13 years, including 11 years as head coach.

During his time as head track coach, the Orangemen won three state championships, two state runners-up titles, seven district championships and two district runner-up plaques.

The Orangemen earned back-to-back-to-back state titles in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and were state runners-up in 1992 and 1999.

Sexton resigned as head track coach following the 2000 season, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. At the time, he was also an assistant football coach and middle school basketball coach.

Sexton said he enjoyed coaching track, but football was his “first love” and he wanted to continue working with the varsity program.

And no matter whether he initially foresaw a state title run in the Orangemen’s future or not, he’s worked for 22 years to help accomplish that feat.

While Saturday will be the first time Sexton has led the Orangemen onto the field at Memorial Stadium, it won’t be his first experience on the facilities’ sideline.

Sexton served as an assistant coach for the South team in the 2005 Nebraska Shrine Bowl Classic.

This time around, though, he’s glad to be going to Lincoln with his own team.