Bill Ehnerd and Steve Klister, co-coaches at Wrightstown High School, have been named Green Bay Packers Coach of the Week, the organization announced Tuesday.
Ehnerd and Klister led the Tigers to a 9-0 regular season mark and their third straight Olympian Conference championship. By virtue of their undefeated regular season, Wrightstown earned a top seed in the Division 4 WIAA playoffs. They host Southern Door in the opening round tonight.
The co-coaches and their staff oversee a program of 85 players, including a varsity team of 40. They are assisted by Matt Binsfeld, Eugene Klister, Terry Schaeuble, Cory Haese, Mike Olson and Kyle Meulemans. In nine years of heading the Wrightstown program, the duo has a career record of 77-21.
Ehnerd, an employee of the U.S. Postal Service, has 32 years of coaching experience in Wrightstown youth sports. A 1975 graduate of Wrightstown High School, he was a letterman for the Tigers under head coach Mark Mitchell. He first joined the staff as an assistant in 1992 and was promoted along with Klister in 1998. Married to Chris, the couple has three children, Jeanette, Erin and Josh.
Klister is a 1984 graduate of Wrightstown, where he lettered in football under coach Walt Maki. He graduated from St. Norbert in 1988 and began his stint with the Tigers in 1989 as an assistant. A math teacher, he is married to Susan and the couple has four children, Douglas, Jessica, Karissa and Courtney.
Since the Packers opened up the award to schools around the state in 1999, they have continued to honor a Brown County program each year. Winners are awarded several items and privileges, including a $1,000 donation to the school's football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL, as well as recognition of the award on www.NFLHS.com, the NFL's high school football Web site.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 9 a.m. every Monday to Cathy A. Dworak, manager of community relations, at coachoftheweek@packers.com (e-mail) or by fax at (920) 569-7302. Please include the nominee's name, address, school, phone number, and reason he/she is deserving of the award.
