Calling it a dream come true, Jon Mulvihill will take over the Blanchester High School football program after serving 10 years as an assistant coach.
“Blanchester football is who I am, it’s what I love,” he said Tuesday afternoon in an email interview with the News Journal.
There were 28 applicants for the position following Brandon Sammons’ three-year stint. Mulvihill was one of five scheduled to be interviewed but the only candidate the district did not have to create a teaching position for if hired, according to BHS principal Chris Smith.
The computer science instructor and tech assistance at BHS, Mulvihill has been an assistant coach under the past four head coaches at BHS – Brandon Sammons (wide receivers), Jack O’Rourke (scout, defensive backs, wide receivers, co-defensive coordinator), John Lovin (defensive backs, wide receivers) and Nick Inabnitt (wide receivers, defensive backs).
A 2003 graduate of Wittenberg University and two-time football letterwinner, Mulvihill has bachelor’s degree in physics with a minor in math. He earned his master’s degree in computer engineering and computer science from the University of Louisville in May.
“When I finished playing football at Wittenberg in 2002, I knew I wasn’t ready to give the game up,” said Mulvihill, a 1999 graduate of Blanchester High School. “I began taking some education classes as a last minute backup plan to my physics degree. My initial plan was an engineering type career. When that didn’t pan out, I began to look into teaching and ended up where I knew I wanted to be, Blanchester High School. I began teaching in 2005 at BHS and began my coaching career under Nick Inabnitt (one of my former high school coaches).
“When I interviewed for the teaching position with Mr. (George) Rise and Mr. (John) Skaggs in August of 2005, one of their questions was ‘Can you see yourself as a head varsity football coach one day?’ My answer, ‘Yes, I would love to create a legacy here at Blanchester.’ It has been my goal since 2005. This opportunity is a dream come true and I am beyond excited to get things going.”
Mulvihill has been involved in the Blanchester Youth Football Program since 2011, including as president of the organization since 2016.
“Being the president of the Blanchester Youth Football organization the last two years has helped me with the organizational, equipment, parent interaction side of being a head varsity football coach. I’ve been lucky to have some great leaders come before me with Blanchester Youth Football so I had a solid understanding of what I need to do. I have the same foundation for the head varsity coaching job.”
Mulvihill said his teams will not look the same from year to year, depending on personnel, but will be “disciplined. We will be sound. We will be aggressive. We will swarm to the ball and play to the whistle. Offensively next year I plan on being a balanced offense run, pass while defensively we’ll have multiple looks both odd and even fronts.”
Mulvihill has a long-term plan for BHS football.
“My long term goals for Blanchester High School are to get this program to a perennial playoff team with multiple state finals appearances and a state championship,” he said. “Right now, we’re a long way off from that, but so was Clinton-Massie in 2000.”
And he can’t wait to get started building that legacy.
“I love this town,” Mulvihill said in his application cover letter to the school district. “I’ve lived here since 1984. I want to create a different culture that reflects positively on the school and the community. I want the town to shut down on Fridays in the fall.”
