Coach Kyle Ritz to Lead Silver Knights

The new Tyler Consolidated head football coach and New Martinsville native, Kyle Ritz, shared his background and hopes for the Silver Knights football program when I had the opportunity to visit with him this past week at the high school.

Kyle is a 2016 graduate of Magnolia High school and has three seasons of coaching experience. What he might lack in coaching tenure he makes up for in passion and desire to succeed. Kile Ritz is bringing a new energy to the Silver Knights football program.

Before we get into his plans for the Silver Knights, here is the background story on Coach Ritz. After graduation from Magnolia, Kyle received a football scholarship from West Liberty where he lettered for four seasons and received second team All-MEC as a tight end. Football has always been a big part of his life. Coach Ritz shared, “I’ve played football beginning in 3rd grade, all the way through college. Throughout High School I was part of 2 semifinal teams, and one state championship team as well as 2 OVAC Titles. I was All-State 3 of my 4 years; the only season I was not I missed the year due to injury.”

During the fall of 2020 when the Mountain East Conference didn’t play football because of the pandemic, Kyle was introduced to the coaching side of the sport. He was working out going through a training routine at River High School and ran into Pilots head coach Mike Flannery. Coach Flannery asked if Kyle would be willing to put several of his players through some workouts, too. That chance meeting opened a whole different side to the world of football.

The young coach explained, “As my playing days were nearing the end, I began working with the River Pilots Football team in Hannibal, Ohio. Throughout my time there I got to work alongside some veteran, very successful coaches, Mike Flannery, as well as Terry Snively. Two guys who showed me a lot about football, coaching, and life. Iám very thankful for them and the rest of the River staff for such a great opportunity and for making me fall in love with coaching.”

Coach Ritz’s also shared a little of his coaching philosophy. It is anchored in good character. To promote that idea certain qualities are embedded into their daily routine like coachability and reliability within the student athlete. Also, the coach promotes the knowledge that the best talents do not always win in the big picture; high character student athletes develop good life habits and find ways to win in life. And most importantly, the coach believes these attributes will create a family within the program. The identity of the team will lie in the principles, not the schemes.

“Placing priority and identity in principles will have us be prepared to handle schematic changes and things out of our control,” said Coach Ritz. Expectations for this team are high. Coach Ritz is hopeful to have 35 to 40 kids out in August.

“We feel as a program not having high expectations will only limit you on your successes. We believe this team can be very good; it will come down to the minor details and how we attack every day,” said the coach.

Their hope for this season is to find ways to win. They believe if they can find a way to battle through the everyday challenges, winning on Friday night will becomes part of their daily habit. “Finding a way to win. Our guys have worked very hard, and I know our staff has very high expectations for us this season.” Coach Ritz can thank his mom for his interest and knowledge about the open football position at TCHS. His mother, Mandy Ware, is a nurse at AIB and a great supporter. Kyle explains he is bringing a whole cheering section with him consisting of not only his mom but his brothers, stepfather John, his girlfriend Mikayla, and the rest of his family. “We are all so excited to be part of the TC family!”