The Bellefontaine School Board officially announced Chris Schmidt (pictured) as the new Varsity Head Football Coach Monday night when the group met in regular session.

“I’m just happy to have this opportunity,” Schmidt said. “I kind of feel like a chef and I have all the ingredients in front of me and I get to mix it all together and add the seasoning.”

Schmidt, a 1996 graduate of Bellefontaine High School, played tight end and defensive end for the 1995 Chieftain football team—the first squad in BHS history to make the state playoffs.

Schmidt went on to play football at Wittenberg University where he was team co-captain.

He has spent each of the last five seasons as an assistant to then-Head Coach Jason Brown. Schmidt has also spent the last nine years coaching varying levels of basketball for Bellefontaine.

Schmidt takes over the reigns from Brown who resigned February 7. Brown went 38-34 as Chieftains Head Coach and led the team to playoff appearances in ‘07 and ‘09.

Listen as Schmidt discusses his new position, the advantages of having graduated from Bellefontaine and where he hopes to take the program in 2010.

Other personnel action taken by the board Monday night saw the group accept the resignation of Allen Hadley. Hadley has spent 22 of his 26 years teaching music at Bellefontaine and will retire at the end of this school year.

Lastly, the board approved the eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C.next spring.

The board will meet again April 26.