A monumental loss.  Condolences to His Family, Friends, Players, and the entire Beechwood Community…..An NKY coaching Legend.

RIP Coach.

Incredible loss to not only the world, but to everyone Coach touched in his Incredible life!! Rip Sir! 

 

Condolences to the Beechwood community!

Condolences to the whole Beechwood community!  Never met the man, but his accomplishments and his former players words speak for themselves.  Very big loss to the KY High School Community. 

RIP Coach Yeagle.

From Cov Cath Football Alumni on social media:

The Covington Catholic football community would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Beechwood High School, the football team, their football alums, and to the family and friends of Coach Mike Yeagle.

Coach Yeagle was a coaching giant in high school football, and a competitor of the highest caliber. As a player, Mike was 1-0 against the Cov Cath. The Tigers defeated the Colonels 8-6 in his senior year at Beechwood - the first time the two football programs ever faced off. As head coach, Yeagle's Beechwood teams were 9-4 against Cov Cath.

With our schools' close proximity and strong sense of rivalry, there was still a strong bond between Covington Catholic and Beechwood all throughout the time Coach Yeagle was at the helm of the Tigers football program. In that era, Covington Catholic was yet to have lights for their football stadium so the Colonels played all of their home games on Saturday afternoons. With all of Beechwood's home games played on Friday nights, it wasn't an uncommon thing to see a small army of boys in their older brothers' Cov Cath t-shirts riding their bikes to watch Yeagle's Tigers play in Fort Mitchell on Saturday nights, and then the following afternoon in Park Hills you would see a similar crowd of kids decked out in Beechwood gear watching the Colonels play. Most Colonel fans were cheering for the Tigers every week of the season except for "Beechwood Week," and most Beechwood fans had the same regard for the Colonels. Much of that attitude of good sportsmanship accompanied by healthy rivalry was garnered thanks to Coach Mike Yeagle, Coach Lynn Ray, and their respective coaching staffs.

Godspeed, Coach Yeagle. And to the Colonel Fans, please join us in offering our prayers for the repose of his soul.

After his hiatus, how long was he at Lloyd?   Was it just the one season, or was it even a full season? 

5 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

After his hiatus, how long was he at Lloyd? Was it just the one season, or was it even a full season? 

His hiatus took place and then he came back to Beechwood for 2 or 3 years before he stepped down at Beechwood. Then he went straight to Lloyd for the next season, but stepped down there after I want to say like 3 games.

11 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

His hiatus took place and then he came back to Beechwood for 2 or 3 years before he stepped down at Beechwood. Then he went straight to Lloyd for the next season, but stepped down there after I want to say like 3 games.

Yeagle’s last year at Beechwood was 2005. He sat out 2006, and then took the Lloyd job in 2007. He coached one game for them, which was the game against Beechwood, which Beechwood won 20-0 and after that he went back on leave. 

Condolences to the Beechwood community. A legend.

6 hours ago, gbballfan21 said:

Yeagle’s last year at Beechwood was 2005. He sat out 2006, and then took the Lloyd job in 2007. He coached one game for them, which was the game against Beechwood, which Beechwood won 20-0 and after that he went back on leave. 

Ahhh, gotcha. I had my timeline mixed up a little bit. I was thinking there was a hiatus at Beechwood where Coach Burnett stepped in as head coach before Yeagle came back.

19 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

From Cov Cath Football Alumni on social media:

The Covington Catholic football community would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Beechwood High School, the football team, their football alums, and to the family and friends of Coach Mike Yeagle.

Coach Yeagle was a coaching giant in high school football, and a competitor of the highest caliber. As a player, Mike was 1-0 against the Cov Cath. The Tigers defeated the Colonels 8-6 in his senior year at Beechwood - the first time the two football programs ever faced off. As head coach, Yeagle's Beechwood teams were 9-4 against Cov Cath.

With our schools' close proximity and strong sense of rivalry, there was still a strong bond between Covington Catholic and Beechwood all throughout the time Coach Yeagle was at the helm of the Tigers football program. In that era, Covington Catholic was yet to have lights for their football stadium so the Colonels played all of their home games on Saturday afternoons. With all of Beechwood's home games played on Friday nights, it wasn't an uncommon thing to see a small army of boys in their older brothers' Cov Cath t-shirts riding their bikes to watch Yeagle's Tigers play in Fort Mitchell on Saturday nights, and then the following afternoon in Park Hills you would see a similar crowd of kids decked out in Beechwood gear watching the Colonels play. Most Colonel fans were cheering for the Tigers every week of the season except for "Beechwood Week," and most Beechwood fans had the same regard for the Colonels. Much of that attitude of good sportsmanship accompanied by healthy rivalry was garnered thanks to Coach Mike Yeagle, Coach Lynn Ray, and their respective coaching staffs.

Godspeed, Coach Yeagle. And to the Colonel Fans, please join us in offering our prayers for the repose of his soul.

I’ve always enjoyed the picture of Yeagle, Mueller, and Ray. @Colonels_Wear_Blue, do you know the ages of each one in that picture? 

1 hour ago, TheConch said:

I’ve always enjoyed the picture of Yeagle, Mueller, and Ray. @Colonels_Wear_Blue, do you know the ages of each one in that picture? 

That picture was from August 2004, so that would have put Coach Ray at 58 years old, Coach Yeagle would have been a few weeks shy of 44 years old, and Coach Mueller would have been right around 47 years old.

3 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Ahhh, gotcha. I had my timeline mixed up a little bit. I was thinking there was a hiatus at Beechwood where Coach Burnett stepped in as head coach before Yeagle came back.

Well Burnett did step in for the 2002 season when Yeagle stepped down a week before the season opener. Yeagle then came back for the 2003-2005 seasons and then resurfaced at Lloyd in 2007 for that lone game against Beechwood. 

Rest in peace Coach Yeagle. He was an amazing football coach and it showed with all of the teams he coached. Condolences to all involved with Coach Yeagle however you were.

The man's name commands attention and the utmost respect from anyone that followed high school football around these parts in the 90s and 00s. The six class generation of younger coaches, athletes, and fans may never fully appreciate Yeagle's work. I hope I'm wrong. I hope his legacy transcends generations.

Purely from a football perspective, everything I've ever read about Mike Yeagle paints the portrait of a master motivator, tactician, and coach who understood the details and nuances required to excel at not only his job, but everyone else's too. He struck me as someone who could coach every position on the team with equal proficiency. A football coach in its purest form. 

His name carries the same weight in Kentucky high school football that Saban and Rockne do in the college ranks, or Belichik and Lombardi in the NFL. 

Residents of Fort Mitchell already know this, as does everyone who coached or played against his Beechwood teams. 

I pulled this from a dynasty piece I wrote a few years ago:

'Beechwood football was already an established small school power when Yeagle took the reins from Bernie Barre in 1991, but the Tigers engulfed the 1A landscape like a monsoon under its new boss, claiming a state title in each of Yeagle's first four seasons. Despite being 1A for all those years, the Tigers routinely played up in class and won way more than they lost, even scoring several wins over 3A power Covington Catholic. One of the high points during the Yeagle dynasty was a stretch of 38 wins in a row from 1996-1998. Beechwood was Kentucky's team of the decade for the 1990s, winning seven championships in nine years from 1991-1999.'

Mike Yeagle is a name I've always held with extreme reverence. His likeness belongs on Kentucky's Mount Rushmore of coaches, in my opinion.

Today’s celebration at Beechwood  for Coach Yeagle just proved how many lives he touched from his former players to his former students to the whole  community of Fort Mitchell! 

As I said before he believed in his players! He molded guys  who weren’t that fast or that big into State Champions! He got the best of you! You would want to run into a brick wall for him! His pre game and halftime speeches are legendary! 
 

Everyone who got to play for this Legendary coach was is very blessed!