“There’s a lot of emotions going on,” Vonderheide said. “I’m like most everybody else. When you get into coaching you want to be a head coach. ... The opportunity opened up at Talawanda, they showed some interest in me, we went through the process and it just made a lot of sense. It does feel like home. I made a lot of connections there in Oxford, and I’m excited and thrilled to get to work.”
It will be a challenge.
The Braves won just three games total the last three seasons, and went 0-10 in 2011.
“We’ve obviously struggled the last several years,” Talawanda Athletic Director Chris Weaver said. “We believe that we probably have kids walking the hallways that could help us on Friday nights. We need someone with organization, great leadership and someone to motivate young men to be a part of something. We feel J.D. has all of those characteristics.”
In addition to their new coach, the Braves also will be in a new high school, new stadium and new conference — Southwest Ohio Conference — in 2012.
Vonderheide was one of nearly 50 who applied for the job, which came open when Mike Wright resigned Oct. 31 after seven seasons. Weaver said seven coaches were interviewed, and two candidates, including Vonderheide, came back for a final interview.
Vonderheide, 31, was a backup quarterback at Miami behind Ben Roethlisberger, among others. After graduation, Vonderheide coached for two seasons at the College of Wooster before returning to Miami in 2006. He was a graduate assistant for three seasons, and spent one season each as director of football operations and tight ends coach.
This year he was an assistant coach at Harrison High School, serving as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. The Wildcats won their final seven games of the regular season to reach the Division II state playoffs.
Vonderheide will start out as a full-time substitute teacher at Talawanda High School until a full-time teaching position opens up, Weaver said.
Vonderheide resides in Ross Twp. with his wife, Andrea, a 2003 Miami grad who was inducted into the Miami Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010. She is Miami soccer’s only first-team All-American.
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