As the oldest of five boys, Sam Otley established the tone for his family’s longstanding association with Roncalli football.
Threw the lead block, if you will.
Earlier this week, Otley. a former blocking back for the Royals, was named the 11th head coach in Roncalli history. It’s an opportunity that enables him to oversee one of the state’s most tradition-laden programs.
Otley, 31, is the first Roncalli graduate to be head coach at his alma mater.
“I’ve been going to Roncalli games since I was young. I remember the 2003 season, and being on the road for those games. That was what we did,” said Otley, who spent the past eight seasons as a Royals’ assistant coach — under four different head coaches — in varying capacities.
“I told our players that I remember being where you are, and how cool of an experience it was. It’s definitely a pinch-yourself kind of moment.”
Otley is the fourth Roncalli head coach since the 2017 season kicked off, following Scott Marsh (three seasons), John Rodenberg (two) and Eric Quintana (two).
Prior to that, the image of Bruce Scifres patrolling the sideline was as consistent as the school’s red-and-blue uniforms.
Scifres amassed a 248-88 record in 27 seasons (1990-2016), leading Roncalli to seven state championships on his way to his rightful place in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
As a Roncalli player, Otley’s strength, toughness and smarts went into him being the trusted blocking back on Scifres’ ground-oriented clubs. He went on to play for coach Mike Leonard at Franklin College, used mainly as an H-back in the Grizzlies’ offense.
Scifres, 67, laughs while telling a story from the 2010 season, which was Otley’s senior year.
The coach, knowing Otley’s role was to open holes so that others could score touchdowns, wanted to give him a shot at the end zone during Roncalli’s homecoming game.
Otley’s response: “Coach, I would rather block.”
That’s Sam Otley.
“I was very pleased,” said Scifres when discovering Otley had been elevated to head coach. “I was very excited for him, and for Roncalli as well. There are things Sam has going for him where he’s going to be an excellent fit. He loves Roncalli High School, loves Roncalli football and I think he plans to be there for a while. And he understands the relevance of faith-first football, which is a very important element of that job.”
The seniors on the upcoming 2024 Royals squad will be breaking in their third head coach.
Otley is young enough to remain at Roncalli for a long period of time, if he so desires. Doing so would stop the school’s recent revolving door of head coaches.
“I was there with Bruce, and when I went to Franklin College, Mike Leonard was in the middle of what he was doing,” said Otley, whose first year as a Roncalli assistant was as a running backs coach for Scifres’ final team, the unbeaten 2016 Class 4A state champions.
“I had always been around stability, but the kids’ willingness to continue to lead by example, and believe in each other, it was just a testament to them. To me, we’re building champions on and off the field, and we’re doing it for the right reasons. That starts with our focus on faith, and the community is absolutely involved in it.”
