2026 Head Coach Interview With Sam Petrie from Vanlue

 

Name: Sam Petrie

School/town: Vanlue Local School

Position K-12 Principal/Head Football Coach

College Heidelberg University

Twitter Handle:  Coach_Petrie

Post anything from the 2025 season that sticks out to you the most. It can be from a practice, a game, or the bus ride to or from the game. Any one moment that sticks out to you.

I was not on the coaching staff in 2025, but as the Principal, us beating Jefferson Township 32-28 was the highlight of the season

Would you share with the readers your coaching tree? First job to the current job.

I was a middle school 7th grade coach @ Willard 2015-2017

I was a varsity offensive line coach and defensive line coach @ Willard from 2017-2019

I was a varsity offensive and defensive line coach @ Riverdale from 2019-2020

I was the defensive coordinator @ Riverdale 2020-2021

I was the head football coach @ Riverdale 2021-2024

I am the head football coach @ Vanlue 2026

Who are some of the coaches you learned from, and what do you use today that you have learned from them?

Britton Devier was my mentor as I started coaching at the varsity level. He was the head coach and I was the offensive and defensive line coach. He taught me the air raid offense and got me hooked on the Tony Franklin system. I have used this offensive system ever since. We are all air raid concepts even if we are a running team .

If the OHSAA got behind 8-man football, would Vanlue consider dropping down to that level?

I think the main thing our community wants to see if Vanlue playing football. If we ever needed to drop to 8 man because of numbers, I believe we would in order to keep football going. I think if the OHSAA would sanction 8 man football, it would help a lot of schools become more interested and take a more serious look at it. 

With being such a small school, how do you go about getting students to come out for the team?

I think the cool thing about our little community is that kids want to play football. They want to make sure that football is happening at Vanlue for their friends and their community. We have people that will step up if needed so that way we will have a team. 

What are your thoughts on girls playing tackle football at the Junior or High School level?

I definitely think that it is possible. I think that girls are very capable of playing football. I think as the age grows, the physical differences in girls and boys become more evident which makes it harder for them to compete physically on a football team. But with small school football, and the numbers the way they are, I believe that it would be more feasible at this level than at bigger schools. 

What were your goals for the season?

My goals for the season are to teach the young men of Vanlue the game of football so that way we can perform at a high level. I want to teach them why we do things the way we do, how the game should be played, and teach them the ins and outs of the game. I believe teaching them to be great people and great teammates is a huge deal also that will make them extremely successful in life. 

What is the toughest part of having such a small roster? 

Practice is the hardest part. With not having extra kids to be able to run the scout team, it does make practice very repetitive. With this though, we are able to perfect some of the tiny details that other teams are not able too. But by not having a scout team, it makes it very difficult to prepare for upcoming opponents because no matter how much film study we do, we cannot truly be prepared for the team we are playing and the speed they will play at. 

How long is a Vanlue practice?

Most of our practices are under 2 hours and this will include lifting and or film study. We are on the field for no more than 90 minutes a day. I have always been a true believer that if you can’t get what you need done in 90 minutes then you are wasting time. I never knew how much this idea worked until Curt Cignetti said the same thing last year. Indiana had the shortest FBS practices and look at the result. If you do things correctly and right and fast paced, you do not need to be out there for 3 hours. 

With not having enough players on the roster to go offense vs. defense during practice, how do you make up for this as far as preparing for your next opponent?

We do a lot of film study. We watch and try our best to talk through things on the film because that is our only option. When we get out to the field on offense, I do my best to work through and talk through the opponents defense and we talk through what plays should work and what we should do on them. 

How do you go about keeping the team motivated when the losses start piling up?

So far through 2 games that has been super easy. Even in the loss last Friday, we were so much better than week 1. We did so many more things right and had much fewer mental mistakes. This contributed to a much better outcome, even though it was a loss. Letting the kids know that they are getting better and the work they are putting in is having a positive outcome is truly what keeps them going.

What is the best part of coaching at Vanlue?

The family aspect. As the school principal and also the football coach, Interact with the kids all day long. We have much better relationships than a lot of high school coaches do with their players.I know what is going on in their lives, I know what they are doing on a daily basis, and I think that means the world to show them that I care about them way more than just a football player. 

How do you go about finding non-league games?

We search far and wide. We want to give our student athletes a chance to win football games and compete. Because we are not in a conference for football, we have to find 10 games a year. As the year goes on, it gets harder but we have been fortunate to find games every year.

What is the toughest part of being not only the head coach but the principal too?

The toughest part is the time management aspect. Making sure that I get all of my work done before the school day starts or during the school day because I go to practice after school is over. 

What was the last book that you read, along with the author?

Culturize by Jimmy Casas. It's all about setting a positive school culture and the different ways to do that.

Where is the best local spot to grab a good meal?

In Vanlue, there is only one spot to grab food. That is the Wildcat Cafe. Friday night all you can eat fish is the best deal in the county.