St. Marys hires Hollars as new football coach

ST. MARYS - The St. Marys football team may have a new face on the sidelines this fall, but its offensive scheme should look very familiar.

Mark Hollars has been picked as the new head football coach at St. Marys. Hollars comes to St. Marys from Westlake High School, in Cuyahoga County, where he coached for two seasons. Hollars has a total of 19 years coaching experience with two of those spent in the collegiate ranks.

Hollars is an advocate of the Wing-T offense, which has been a mainstay in the St. Marys program for many years. Hollars said he has always favored running the football and controlling the clock.

"I have always built my teams around (the) defense first," he said. "I've always found that by running the Wing-T, it helps out our defense. With that kind of offense, they usually won't have to be out on the field as much."

Hollars said the reputation of both St. Marys and the Western Buckeye League made his decision to take the St. Marys position an easy one.

"St. Marys has always been known for its physical play," Hollars said. "I remember watching them win state titles in the early 90s (1990, 1992, 1993), running just four different plays. They were always a very physical football team.

"I also know there is a lot of tradition with the other schools in the league. I'm really excited to get the opportunity to coach there. We're really looking forward to being part of the St. Marys community."

Hollars has experience in this area of the state. His beginnings as a coach go back to 1991 when he was an assistant at Ada, under then-head coach Mike Vicars.

Hollars attributes a great deal of his coaching philosophy to Vicars.

"I got hurt playing football at Eastern Michigan (University), so I ended up transferring to Bowling Green (State University) to finish school," he said. "I then decided to turn my focus to coaching.

"So, I ended up coming to Ada to coach under Vicars. I owe a lot to what I learned by coaching under him."

Among his other coaching stints, Hollars was an assistant at the collegiate level. He spent one year each at both Gettysburg College and Baldwin-Wallace College.

Hollars takes over the St. Marys program after longtime coach Doug Frye retired recently following 11 seasons at the helm.

Frye posted an overall record of 90-34. Frye helped lead the Roughriders to three WBL titles and seven playoff appearances. In 2004, Frye's team was state runner-up in Division III.