Catholic Memorial Football Coach Named Coach of the Year

Catholic Memorial football coach Bill Young has been named the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s coach of the year after taking his team to win the Division 3 state championship game last month.

Catholic Memorial had a rough start to its season in 2012 during Classic 8 conference play, starting out the season 2-2. But they won every game after a Sept. 14 loss to be the state champions. Their two losses came from Mukwonago High School and Arrowhead High School – Arrowhead went undefeated and won the Division 1 state championship.

There are many reasons Coach Young was honored by the Milwaukee newspaper. Here’s just some of Young’s accomplishments as head coach, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The Crusaders have made the playoffs nine times in 12 years in the WIAA and reached the state final three times. This year they were once again the smallest school in the Classic 8, with the closest in enrollment, Waukesha North, listed with 478 more students, according to the WIAA website. Most of Memorial's league rivals are at least twice as large.

Young was named the Green Bay Packers coach of the week after Catholic Memorial shut out Pewaukee in the second round of playoffs.

Young told Waukesha Patch days before the state championship game against Waupaca High School that he’s told the team to do what they’ve done all season: “win and advance.”

“You like to see kids get better as football players and as people, and that is what they have done,” Young said in November.

The 42-7 state championship win over Waupaca High School gave Crusaders coach Bill Young his first WIAA title after the 35-year head coach won four WISAA private school titles, the last coming in 1996.

“It’s huge. To finally get a gold ball, it’s just something special,” said Young, whose team lost in the WIAA final in 2001 and 2010. “It’s an incredible group of kids and it’s just great for Catholic Memorial.”