Large change in Ozaukee football

Ozaukee High School has a new football coach who knows plenty about the Warriors’ program.

Cole Large is a 2014 graduate of Ozaukee High who played running back and defensive back for the Warriors. He remembers how fun it was to play football and how much he learned, and he wants to pass that along.

“I think high school football provides students unique leadership and teamwork opportunities that help them grow. It was a great experience for me, and I want to continue providing that and have a lot of fun with it,” he said.

Large is back in Fredonia working in his family’s businesses, selling fiber reinforcement for concrete, helping on the farm and with the Pheasants at Large private bird hunting preserve and bunk house.

Large had lived in Lake Forest, Ill., and had started helping the Warriors’ offense in the offseason when the head coaching job opened.

“The opportunity came up and I decided to go for it,” Large said.

In Lake Forest, Large worked for the Chicago Bears for three years, capturing video at practices and games, a skill he learned shooting the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team in Madison, where Large earned a degree in economics.

Large said he will continue to help with video for the Bears during home games this season.

Seeing some of the inner workings of professional football and a winning Division 1 college program will help his prep team come fall, he said.

“I’ll bring things I’ve seen that I liked and that work to Ozaukee’s program,” Large said.

He has a couple of priorities for the Warriors.

“We want to play a clean brand of football and we’re going to do things the right way,” he said.

He also will focus on off-the-field standards for studies and being good role models.

“High school athletes don’t realize how much they’re looked up to,” Large said.

Large is familiar with the Warriors from his offseason work and through his younger brother Cael, who graduated this year after playing for the team.

As far as figuring out offensive and defensive philosophies, “It’s going to be camp before we really know everything,” he said.

The team, he said, is heavy on seniors, and Large wants the rest of the roster to grow.

“Numbers-wise, we’re trying to add more and more,” he said.

The Warriors went 4-4 last season and lost a first-round playoff game. They have qualified for the playoffs 10 times in the last 11 seasons.

“It’s exciting to come back to Ozaukee and get the sports programs going again. Football has been a strong tradition in Ozaukee. I want to add what I can to it,” he said.

Large is the second straight Bears fan to lead the Warriors. He takes over for Illinois native Michael Schatz, who spent one year as head coach before getting a teaching job in Racine, making the commute too difficult to make.

Football isn’t Large’s only sport. He medaled twice in wrestling at Ozaukee, taking fourth and fifth at state, and graduated as the leader in wins with 162 and in career and single-season takedowns. He had come back a couple of nights per week to help with the Warriors’ wrestling program, and ran the youth and middle school programs.