Football season is a few months away, but the planning is underway to welcome in a new head coach. Otsego selected Scott McDougall, a Grandville native, as its new program leader.  “It’s an honor to be selected as the next head coach, I’m excited for the challenge and for the future of Otsego football,” McDougall says.

McDougall has an impressive career in coaching both at the high school  and college level. A player in Grandville, that’s where he started his coaching career after an injury sidelined his college playing days at Alma. He had the opportunity to move to the college level as an assistant coach at Ferris State University in 2013 where he also finished his education degree. In 2017, he embarked on a six-year coaching run at Northern Michigan University. In 2022, he went back to the high school ranks at Elkhart High School, knowing he wanted to teach and coach at the high school level for the long term. “High school programs are where my heart has always been,” McDougall says. “Being a part of a community, being able to have a wider impact. As a college coach, you can mold young men from age 18 to 22; at the high school level, you get to know the student athletes as youngsters then try to help them grow up into high school seniors.”

“He’s a person who’s energetic and wants to plant himself and his family into a community, not just be a football coach,” says Otsego Athletic Director John Kubiak, who retired from coaching after the 2022 season. “He’s looking at the program from youth to high school and is ready to dive right in to help the overall program out and our kids. 

“He brings some energy and college experience to the program, which not a lot of schools our size have. From a playbook standpoint, he’ll bring some creativity and innovative concepts. There’s some dynamics offensively that will be great for our program.”

McDougall’s playbook includes high expectations, on and off the field, grounded in character. He wants to make Friday night football a must-see event in Otsego, a community he’s looking forward to calling home, “We’re all excited to be a part of the bulldog family. It’s the people that drew us to Otsego.” McDougall and his wife, Abby, have one young son, Rory. He’ll be making visits to the area throughout the spring with an official start date in June.