Bulldogs bring Andrew Yahn on board as new football coach | News, sports, jobs

ANDREW YAHN

BRIDGEPORT — Every high school football team in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference now has a head coach for the 2024 season.

This comes after the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District Board of Education approved the hiring of Andrew Yahn as the Bulldogs' new head football coach during a meeting Wednesday night. He replaces Fred Ray, who resigned in the spring.

“I'm really excited to get going,” Yahn said. “I was able to meet with the guys earlier today and discuss my plan and my vision for them. The most important thing for us is that we have to get back to the basics of football. We can't turn the ball over. We have to be able to run the ball effectively and play a very aggressive defense.

“The vision is to recreate the winning attitude and atmosphere. To achieve this, we need to bring back the mental and physical strength,” he noted.

Yahn's previous coaching experience came at Wheeling Park and West Liberty University.

“I learned quite a bit during my time as an assistant coach at Wheeling Park and West Liberty,” Yahn admitted. “I coached under the late Mark Nardone and current head coach Chris Daugherty at Wheeling Park and also under Roger Waialae at West Liberty.

“I've learned a lot of different positions and a lot of different leadership skills and qualities, and I'm very grateful to have had all three of those coaches in my life.”

When asked why he wanted to become the head football coach at Bridgeport, he said, “I wanted to use the skills and qualities I learned and give back to the community. It's not about me, it's about the kids.”

Yahn has been a firefighter/paramedic with the Wheeling Fire Department for four and a half years.

He graduated from Wheeling Park High School in 2005 and from West Virginia University in 2009, where he earned a degree in athletic training.

“Andrew will assume the positions of head coach and weight room supervisor,” Bridgeport School Board member Brent Ripley said. “He’s a solid gentleman, and that’s what our kids need. He spoke to the team today about the All-11 mentality and not individual stats. He focuses more on the team than on the individual game.”

Yahn has a daughter in third grade who is enrolled in the district.

Ripley couldn't say enough about the work Ray did.

“Fred is a good man. “He’s done a lot of good things for our football program and the district,” Ripley said. “He will stay here as a teacher.”