MAUMEE, Ohio — The 2024 Maumee Panthers are different. At the time of publication, the team is 3-0, good enough for the best start since 2009. The team's hot start is a far cry from where the program was just a few years ago, when the Panthers went 1-48 from 2018 to 2022, including a 34-game losing streak.
A big reason for the remarkable turnaround is head coach Evan Karchner, a 2012 Maumee grad who was a sophomore linebacker on the 2009 team.
"There was a lot of negativity," Karchner said of the locker room culture when he took the reins of the team. "There were a lot of bad vibes around the program. "One of my goals for the program was I wanted to make sure kids were having a good experience, and that football was the best part of their day."
Karchner and his staff inherited a team of players, many of whom hadn't won a varsity contest. In his first season in 2023, the team went 5-5.
"We lost some close games," Karchner explained. "Our guys this year, and our leaders this year, they all believed and said, 'we can win more than five games.'"
Fast forward to the present, and Maumee isn't just winning games, they're running away with them. The offense is averaging 51 points per game, and beating teams by an average of almost 38 ppg.
One of the guys behind the offense is Shane Kinnee: the 23-year-old offensive coordinator and associate head coach. But when asked about his improvement of the offense, Kinnee gave credit to the players.
"We have some really talented guys, and guys who have bought in to what we want to do," Kinnee said. "The biggest (difference in) going from year one to is we're not teaching anything. We're just going at what we do, and we're able to game plan more. We have a talented group of kids. They deserve all the credit."
That leadership has turned guys like senior running back and linebacker Cody Wulf from a guy on the periphery to a star player.
"Coach Kinnee, Coach Karchner, they expect more of us as a group," Wulf said. "We're all pushing each other. We all want to get better together, and it's rolling."
There is still a long road ahead for this team. Conference play is getting started, and the Panthers have to compete with powerhouses like Eastwood and Oak Harbor for a shot at the Northern Buckeye Conference title and the playoffs.
But Karchner and his team don't want to get ahead of themselves.
"We go on a week-by-week basis," Karchner said. "Everybody wants to go 10-0 and win a league championship. That wouldn't be too far-fetched for us. I truly believe in that. We just have to keep getting better and winning week by week."
The Panthers host their next opponent in league favorite Oak Harbor.
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