In a journey that’s taken him all around the state, it appears Troy Burgess’s career will come full circle.
The veteran is back as the Owen Valley head football coach, bringing with him another 16 years of experience for his second go-round in Spencer. He was approved at Thursday’s OV schoolboard meeting.
Burgess went 33-9 at OV from 1998-2001 and jumped at the opportunity to go back. He owns a 121-92 record across 20 seasons, last coaching at Frontier from 2017-19 before coming back to South Putnam, where he was head coach from 2006-13.
Burgess is currently the athletic director at SP and plans to finish out the school year before retiring to focus on coaching football. But he’s ready to hit the ground running, guiding the Patriots through off-season lifting sessions.
“I thought I was done when I came back to South Putnam,” Burgess said. “I thought I was done, but just being out of it the last few years, I got the itch again. And even though I wanted to coach again, I don’t know if I would have done it anywhere else.
“At Owen Valley, the chance to go back to do it again there, that made it an easy decision for me. It couldn’t have worked out any better.”
The itch became a rash as he watched Chuck Sorrell’s South Putnam squad go 24-5 the past two seasons, winning their first regional in 22 years in 2024 and then winning the Class 1A state title last November.
“Watching those guys every Friday night,” Burgess said, “I had the opportunity to coach at South Putnam for a while and watching what Chuck did with those kids, and especially the last two years, I kind of got that itch. A lot of it has to do with every Friday watching what he was doing there and the enjoyment he had doing it.
“Chuck had a great time with those kids and a lot of success making those big runs. Getting to be around that, I missed that, being around the coaches and players.”
OV athletic director Brad Greene is old enough to remember Burgess’ days at OV and can’t think of a better man to pull the current team out of its two-year doldrums.
“You look at the programs he’s been a part of after leaving Owen Valley and he made them all better,” Greene said. “Wherever he goes, he finds a way to have success.
“And after kids leave high school, they still have relationships with him. I’m just excited to have him back as the head of our football program. We’re fortunate to snag a guy with his experience. He’ll know how to get us going again.”
After graduation took away the top players from back-to-back sectional champs, the Patriots struggled to rebuild. Forced to put a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the field the last two years, injuries to key players piled up, leading to a 2-18 run.
“What we’re hoping for is that when they become juniors and seniors, that experience can start to pay off,” Burgess said.
OV is where Burgess started his career, first as an assistant, then as head coach before assistant Duane Potts took over for the next 19 years. Potts, who came back as an assistant last year for Eric Crouch, will remain on staff, Burgess said.
“Both my kids were born in Bloomington, so it’s always been a special place to me,” Burgess said. “I’ve kept in contact with former player and have great relationships with those guys.
“I met a lot of great people and from a football standpoint, I had a couple good years before I left and coached a lot of great players. I have a lot of good memories.”
That includes working with Potts and their combined 40-plus years of experience certainly gives them some credibility, especially with players whose dads, uncles and cousins played for them. The first priority is to get better numbers out.
“Between Duane and I, we need to get in there and get everyone who wants the opportunity to play football to come play,” Burgess said. “No. 2 is continue to work in the off-season to get bigger and stronger and start getting some confidence.
“I watched them play South Putnam the last couple of years and there’s some talent there. But they’ve got to get some confidence, and that will come with being older, bigger and stronger.”
Burgess was recently added to the Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
“That confidence and experience is what we need,” Greene said. “That’s what he brings. That’s going to be a huge benefit to the kids. He’s excited and hungry, and the kids are excited and hungry. It’s a perfect match.”
After leaving OV the first time, the New Castle grad went on to Greenfield-Central, then South Putnam (where he lost his opener to Owen Valley), going from a one-win team in 2006 to 11-2 in 2013, winning two sectionals in the last three seasons.
He took some time off from coaching, turning to administration duties as AD, assistant principal and dean of students at SP while his son Mason played football at Plainfield. He came back for one year at Evansville Central in 2018, but what a year it was, leading the Bears (13-2) to the Class 4A title game, where they lost in an agonizing four overtimes.
But the chance to be closer to Mason when he was at Purdue and his daughter in Brownsburg, plus and an impending marriage brought him back north a year later, taking the head coaching job at Frontier.
Through it all, one thing remained the same.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, kids are kids,” Burgess said. “They want to be coached, they want to be challenged, they want to be treated fairly. Holding kids accountable, whether it’s at a big school or small school is a common thing.
“That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from all my stops is, I don’t have change who I am and what I do.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Owen Valley brings back coach Troy Burgess for a football revival
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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