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BOURBON - The Triton Trojans thought they found their man when they hired Trent Grider to coach their varsity football team.
Turns out Grider hadn't found the right school.
Grider, hired in early May, quit before his first practice with his new team.
If Grider wasn't meant to be, Triton hopes Rod Wildman is.
The school board approved Wildman as the new varsity football coach in a special meeting at 10:45 this morning. He replaces Grider, who resigned July 8.
Wildman graduated from Warsaw High School, where several of his rushing records still stand.
He holds the record for most rushing yards in a game, 281 in a 34-6 win over Columbia City in 1973. He also rushed for the most yards in one season, 1,652 in 1972. He graduated with 3,158 rushing yards, tops in Warsaw history.
Wildman had been coaching junior high football in the Warsaw Community School system.
Grider gave Triton little notice. The board accepted his resignation less than one month before the first practice on Aug. 4. He never really got started at Triton - he held no football camps this summer.
Grider did not announce his resignation in person.
"He sent a fax," Triton AD Mike Byron said. "I was told by (superintendent) Mr. (Rex) Roth."
He wrote on the fax that he accepted a coaching job with Richmond High School.
Asked if this is what it looks like on the surface - that Grider was using Triton as a backup all along until he found what he considered a better job - Byron said: "Yeah, that's what it looks like to me."
The 33-year-old Grider, who coached at Class A Tri-Central for five years, owned a 25-30 record. Triton went 3-7 last year under Brad Shields, who went to Peru.
By replacing Grider with Wildman in a week, Byron felt Triton made the best out of what could have turned into a sticky situation with practices only three weeks away.
"Until we found a candidate, not knowing whether he would accept, we were in a bind," Byron said. "We have ourselves a coach. We're looking forward to having him, and I think it's going to be a great year.
"We're all ready."
