GREEN BAY — It’s a up-to-date era for Preble football as Brad Boockmeier takes over his alma mater and looks to take over one of the biggest schools in the state and turn it into a winning one.
“Playing here, working under some really great coaches and phenomenal guys, and now being in a coaching role, it’s really, really cool,” he said.
JOHN MILLER / NBC 26
Boockmeier, in his seventh year on the Hornet coaching staff, was originally slated to be an assistant to Hall of Fame inductee Mark Jonas, but Preble decided against hiring Jonas in June. That’s when Boockmeier got the call.
“They asked if I was interested in being interim coach and I said, ‘yes, let’s do it, let’s go,’” Boockmeier said.
Although Jonas was named head coach in March, the change of school did not bring any significant changes for the players.
“Boockmeier was always there for us,” senior Ty Gerard said. “He was always the go-to guy for everything, and in the summer he was running everything, so it wasn’t that big of a difference for us, I don’t think.”
Boockmeier shined during his time with the Hornets, rushing for over 1,500 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns in his final season. As for his favorite moment from that time:
“My senior year, we won a close game against a tough Bay Port team. We had to go about 70 yards in the fourth quarter to take the lead and we did,” the 2012 graduate said.
JOHN MILLER / NBC 26
The Hornets were a winning program back then, and Boockmeier wants to rebuild the team to beat the Bay Ports of the world again — but it won’t happen overnight. The team has won three games in the past three years.
“You can’t win a football game in July – what’s July 24? You can’t win a game, we don’t play a game tomorrow, but we can be better today and tomorrow and then we can be better the next day, and when we do that every day, we start to get positive results and we can figure out where those results can be,” Boockmeier said.
JOHN MILLER / NBC 26
He wants his team to be the team no one wants to play against.
“That means when a team comes to play you, they know it’s going to be tough,” the first-year head coach said. “Even if you don’t have anyone great on your team, you might not be a good team at all, but you’re going to attack them every play, and teams don’t want to go against that.”
It sounds like his team already accepts it.
“I kind of like being the underdog. You know, everybody underestimates us, but we’re going to show them Fridays, Thursdays, you know,” said senior Braylon Schadt.
