By Hudson Harkness
Newaygo High School introduced Hall of Fame coach Ralph Munger as their head football coach on Tuesday, December 20.
Munger recently was an assistant at Mancelona for two seasons, but he made his name as the head coach of Rockford where he led the Rams to three Division 1 State Titles and two state runners up in his 28 seasons as the head coach. Prior to Rockford, he spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Frankenmuth. Munger has a career record of 335-109.
During the press conference, Coach Munger introduced himself to players as well as answered questions from the media. “Rebuild? We are going to restore the roar,” answered coach when asked about the current situation of the Newaygo football program. Coach believes that attitude of his players and coaches is everything and will help lead to the turnaround of the program. Over the past three seasons the Lions have posted an overall record of 6-19.
There have been several questions surrounding the hiring about how long Munger would be in this position and when asked about it he answered, “Let’s go until tomorrow, then we’ll go another day.” Coach Munger retired from the Rockford job because of health issues, “I’m feeling well…the two years at Mancelona helped me get stronger and stronger.”
The hiring of Coach Munger makes him the 4th coach for the Lions in four seasons. Newaygo will start working towards the 2023 season following the holiday break
