by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
A young coach is ready to take the Noblesville football team back to the old school.
Dave Sharpe was hired as the Millers new head football coach Tuesday during
the Noblesville Schools’ regular board meeting. Sharpe’s tenure as coach officially
begins in January, but he is already preparing for the new job, and was talking with
some of his future players minutes after his hiring was made official.
“It’s a big small town,” said Sharpe. “And I like that in a school. It’s one big high
school right in the middle of the community.”
Sharpe spent the 2019 season at Hamilton Southeastern, where he served as the
team’s defensive coordinator. As a result, he has first-hand knowledge of the Hoosier
Crossroads Conference, which he said “is as good a conference as there is in the entire
Midwest, so we’re going to play some great competition.”
“There’s no bad teams,” said Sharpe. “Every week anybody can beat anybody.
The rosters are so big, everybody’s too platooned. It’s a level playing field for most
schools in the league.”
“Coach Sharpe has a great football pedigree and 14 years of strong, successful
coaching experience,” said NHS Athletic Director Leah Wooldridge. “He knows
we’ve been a team in transition and he’s committed to bringing stability and leadership to build our program. His focus on kids and his great football mind will be huge
assets. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together moving forward.”
Sharpe’s football pedigree comes from Jimtown, as he is the son of legendary
Jimmies coach Bill Sharpe, who compiled a 288-54 record in 28 seasons (1980-2007)
and four state championships (1991, 1997, 1998 and 2005). Dave Sharpe graduated
from Jimtown in 2000, then attended Purdue University, graduating from there in
2004 with an education degree. He will teach physical education at Noblesville High
School.
Dave Sharpe began his career as an assistant for the Jimmies, first under his father,
then for current coach Michael Campbell, who took over in 2008 after Bill Sharpe
retired. Dave Sharpe’s first head coaching job was at John Glenn, where he went 13-9
in two seasons.
In 2015, Sharpe became the head coach at La Porte – another “big small town.” In
four seasons with the Slicers, Sharpe compiled a 26-17 record, including a Duneland
Conference championship in 2016.
“My vision for Noblesville is to be the polar opposite offensively,” said Sharpe.
“We’re going to go incredibly old-school. We’re going to go double tights. We’re
going to go a full house T offense, and we want to be the oddball in the league. With
everybody going to a full spread offense, we’re going to give opponents something
that they only get to prepare for once a year.”
Sharpe said his plans for the next couple weeks include getting to know his players and to “continue to evaluate the kids from the game films that I just inherited.” His
top priority is to hire a coaching staff. “And then just setting the groundwork of what
we envision the program with going forward,” he said.