Inductees

Imagine being four months into your first head coaching job, not yet 30 and, well, the posse is coming after you. Pack up and head down the highway?

Bill Schuchardt still laughs about it today. Back in 1981, he figured he was about to be run out of town as the Salem High School football coach.

“I walked into my principal’s office after being 4-5,” Schuchardt said, “and asked, ‘Am I going to get fired?”

Instead, an understanding administration stuck with him, and from there rose one of the state’s most successful high school football coaches. In fact, his success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Schuchardt with the Class of 2021.

Schuchardt (pronounced Shoe-cart) coached the Salem Tigers for 32 seasons (1981 to 2012) and finished with an incredible record of 255-91 – which ranks among the Top 20 all-time in state history.

His Tigers twice played for Class 3 state championships, in 2000 and 2002, and reached three other state semifinals (1998, 1999, 2001). They also won 14 South Central Association championships and 12 district titles.

Along the way, Salem saw 34 players earn All-State honors between 1988 and 2008.

What a turnaround it was. The former standout lineman at St. Mary’s High School of St. Louis and Missouri Valley College still remembers overhearing the brutal second-guessing of a few Salem old-timers in that first season in 1981.

“Before my first year, in the summer, there were four guys talking,” Schuchardt said, “and one of them said, ‘I don’t know why you guys hired this city slicker. After a year, he’ll skip town.”

Truth is, he got the job out of sheer luck. Having applied for numerous head coaching jobs up and down I-44 and I-55, Coach Schu piqued the interest of Salem’s then-athletic director, Mike Day. Also in the running was assistant Tom Dillon, who preferred to remain as an assistant.

“Why don’t we talk to this guy from Budweiser-ville?” Dillon said.

With Dillon as defensive coordinator and assistants Don Smith and Mike Karr on staff, and Schuchardt on at the helm, Salem became a force with a ground attack (wishbone offense) and 50 defense.

The 1982 team (8-3) kick-started it all, becoming Salem’s first postseason team since the state went to a playoff format 15 years before. The Tigers had a nine-win season in 1984, and two 10-1 seasons to finish the decade.

Salem was 78-23 in the 1990s. Between 1998 and 2002, they were 58-9. In order, those teams were 11-2, 12-1, 13-1, 11-2 and 11-3. The 1999 team’s season ended in a 7-0 loss to Jefferson City Helias Catholic High School.

The 2000 team broke through, beating Festus 35-26 in the semifinals and advancing to play in the school’s first state championship game. Two years later, they returned after beating St. Genevieve 34-28 in the semifinals.

Only Platte County, on a run of three consecutive state titles, denied Salem of state crowns.

And to think he nearly got run out of town in 1981.

“I thought I’d come down to the Ozarks and teach them about football,” Schuchardt said. “And I found out there were a lot of coaches better than me. And they humbled me.”

The 1984 and 1987 teams shared the SCA title. The 1988 team won it outright, and played the district championship game in front of Yankees legend Yogi Berra, who was there to award the trophy. The 1993 Tigers won the program’s first playoff victory.

Schuchardt had been an all-conference and All-Metro offensive guard at St. Mary’s in the mid-1960s for Ed Pernicairo, who earned 436 football and 354 baseball wins.

In fact, Schuchardt coached under Pernicairo for seven seasons after chasing his pro dreams for two years. He had been a four-year starter at Missouri Valley College (1968-1971), earning All-HAAC and NAIA District 16.

“Perni taught me a lot. He showed me how to run a program,” Schuchardt said. “He was very organized.”

Overall, what a run it was. The support of his wife, Karen, and football sons Joe and Jeff meant a ton.

“(Karen) allowed me to do what I loved to do. She is a great coach’s wife and is an even better football mom,” Schuchardt said.

Assistants, players and the community made it all a great run.

“We always said it was about the players,” Schuchardt said. “The community bought into what we were doing. And when we started having success, Salem Football was something they all could hang their hat on.”