The Ramblers stayed home with their successor to former coach Dave Hills by hiring assistant coach Dave Suttle as the new man to lead the program.

Suttle, a Boyne City native and assistant under Hills, was announced as the new varsity coach by the school late last week and will be tasked with keeping the Rambler tradition of success going.

“I feel very humbled at this point from all the reception from former classmates, the community and players,” Suttle said. “It’s very exciting.”

The 2000 Boyne City graduate knows all about the Rambler program as he played four years of football and was a team captain during his playing career.

After nine years of being the offensive coordinator for the junior varsity team from 2008-2017, Suttle joined the varsity program as an offensive assistant in 2017, helping Boyne City to a 9-1 overall record and a Northern Michigan Football League Legends championship.

Suttle will have large shoes to fill as he takes over a program that went 125-45 under Hills, including two regional titles and both three district and conference crowns during that span.

“It’s a major program to be running,” Suttle said. “But I felt like I surrounded myself in being with a great staff that coach Hills always had around, so I knew I’d be prepared for it, so I was pretty confident in my abilities in being able to take over the program and try to have some success. There’s big shoes to fill.”

Suttle said he always envisioned a chance to lead his own team, but the timing wasn’t right. But with Hills stepping down, it was time for Suttle to do what he’s always hoped to do.

“Scheduling has never worked out, and the whole opportunity has finally presented itself,” Suttle said. “With the unfortunate news of coach Hills returning kind of made a perfect storm for me.”

Suttle gave great praise to Hills for helping him be prepared for this moment. And while he hopes he can keep the tradition alive, Suttle also hopes to put his own stamp on the Rambler program.

“The integrity that he coached with was amazing,” Suttle said of Hills. “The systems that we have in place as a program are phenomenal. We’ll tweak some things offensively and defensively, but we’re not building rocket ships or recreating a wheel here in Boyne City. We’re going to try and carry on a tradition that’s been in the makings for decades and go from there.”

The Ramblers had a bit of a down year last season, going 3-6 and missing the playoffs, but have enjoyed plenty of success on the gridiron, with Suttle hoping to get the program back to its winning ways next season.

“There’s no pressure for me,” Suttle said. “I have great support from Dave Hills, the community is behind me, I feel very confident, the players seems to be excited and I think we’re going to be ready to roll. We’re going to take it one game at a time, one week at a time and pressure is only what you make of it.”

The Ramblers are scheduled to open the 2019 football season against Essexville Garber on Friday, Aug. 30 in Boyne City.