SHERIDAN, Ind. (WISH) — Special. Enigma. Those are just two words used to describe Sheridan’s Bud Wright. The high school football icon enters his 60th season as a head football coach in the state of Indiana — 59 of those with the Blackhawks.

“He is Sheridan football,” Sheridan senior lineman Owen Trietsch said.

Wright not just a legend in the Hoosier State, but the entire country. His 457 career wins ranks sixth nationally. That includes nine state championships that span across three decades.

Coaching high school football for 60 years was not Wright’s original plan.

“I did not dream of that at all to start with,” Wright said. “My first reaction was that I’d coach football for ten years, and then I’d thought maybe I’d go into law school. But that never happened. I just kept growing, kept coaching, and here I am.”

Now, Wright’s coached himself — and the Blackhawks — into the history books by building a program that’s been successful over multiple generations. Wright’s coached more grandsons of former players than he can count.

“One of the main differences is society itself,” Wright said. “I mean, well, air conditioning. That was a big factor on how you could practice. You used to, you didn’t even need to worry about heat. You could go out in 100 degree weather and practice. Now, the kids can’t take it and you’re not allowed to do it.”

Sheridan looks a lot different than it did when Wright was a player back in the 1950s. There’s a new turf field and new field house. But still the same sheer determination to be the best football team in the state of Indiana. This year’s team has a strong chance to get Wright his tenth state title.

“Without him, none of this exists,” Trietsch said. “All the wins, the state championships. It’s a culture here, and we’re due. We need to get back there, and I think as a unit, we’re wanting that one goal – and we’re looking to get back. We got close last year, but we got to seal it.”

The Blackhawks are already contenders — just like every year. Sheridan lost in last year’s semi-state game to the eventual 1A state champions Lutheran Saints. Lutheran moves up to 2A this season, making Sheridan the favorites for another state title.

The secret to Sheridan’s success isn’t easy to nail down. Wright says the athletes and his coaches. Everyone else says it’s him.

“There’s something he sees in kids that… he almost can see the future,” said Jacob Chesney, one of Wright’s assistant coaches and former players. “He knows how they’re going to develop. He knows how to develop them, then Friday nights, they show up. Something clicks in his mind that I wish I knew.”

Wright puts in the time to make sure the wins keep coming.

“During the season, maybe five, six hours he goes home to sleep. Other than that, he’s here, watching film, preparing stuff for practice, games, getting us ready for Friday nights,” senior quarterback Owen Bell said.

“He’s the most devoted individual, coach,  person to football that I’ve ever known,” said Noel Urban, Wright’s former high school teammate. “He lives it. He studies it. He improves each year. He changes. He’s a student of the game. But more than that, he’s a student of people.”

Wright’s thought about retiring, but not recently. Last time was 20 years ago when his wife Jayne became sick, but she had other plans.

“She absolutely said she didn’t want me to retire,” Wright said. “She wanted me to keep coaching, and then she passed in 2004, then I sort of got rejuvenated again.”

The next four years, he led the Blackhawks to the Dome, winning three straight state championships. He hasn’t thought about hanging it up since.

“I think that he’ll quit when he’s ready, and whenever that is, and maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll just keep going, and keep going, and keep going,” Sheridan athletic director Beth DeVinney said.

Ready to coach the fourth generation next.