“I’ve always had a goal of being a head football coach,” said Burk, who coached at Mount Healthy last season only. “I thought this would be a really cool opportunity because the program is so young and I can make my mark there.”
This fall will be the third season for Tri-Village football and its first in the Cross County Conference. Enough progress had been made to jump-start its status from a JV program to varsity last season as an independent. The Patriots, a Division VII, Region 28 program, responded with a 3-7 record.
Based in New Madison (Darke County), Tri-Village has had outstanding boys and girls basketball programs, winning a D-IV boys state title in 2015. The community support for those teams has carried over to the football program.
“That’s one of the reasons it was such an appealing draw,” Burk said. “It was apparent very early on they were 100 percent behind the football program. Once I saw the stadium and all the new things they had built, I was very drawn to the team.”
Burk is at least the third new Cross County Conference football coach for the upcoming season. He succeeds Jason Schondelmyer, who resigned to return as Arcanum's coach. Also, Eric Wright was promoted to succeed Bill Derringer at Tri-County North.
Schondelmyer previously coached at Arcanum from 1999-2006. He succeeds T.J. Powers, who was not retained after five seasons. Derringer had three separate stints as coach at Tri-County North, spanning a total of 13 seasons, the last of which covered 2010-16. He remains the district’s superintendent.
An offensive lineman, Burk played one season at Centre College in Kentucky.
“I decided I was going to be a better coach than a player, so that’s what I’ve been working on since then,” he said, laughing. “Obviously, we want to win football games, but more importantly make an impact in the lives of the young men in the community.”
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ROBERT BURK
What: Tri-Village football coach
Previously: Mount Healthy, Cin. Northwest, Hamilton assistant
Personal: 2002 Hamilton High School grad
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