The Cleveland Browns have honored Bay High School's Ron Rutt as the 2017 Browns High School Coach of the Year.
Rutt's Rockets finished the 2017 regular season with a perfect 10-0 record and advanced to the OHSAA Regional Final. Since being named head coach in 2014, Rutt has earned a 37-13 record (.740, including postseason) and has reached the playoffs each year while developing a program that finished a combined 10-40 the previous four seasons.
On Monday, the Browns made a surprise visit to Bay High School and presented Rutt with $25,000 to equip his program with new helmets (approximately 75) through the HELMETS program, a team initiative supported by University Hospitals, Xenith and the Ohio Lottery.
All 14 Browns High School Coach of the Year finalists were recognized at the game versus the Packers this past Sunday for their commitment to developing the sport in Northeast Ohio. The Browns also make a $1,500 donation to support each finalist’s football team. Rutt received an additional $3,000 grant as the winner.
Rutt will represent the Browns as Cleveland’s Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year nominee. As the local honoree, he will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the 2018 Pro Bowl in Orlando, courtesy of the NFL and the Browns, and may potentially receive another $15,000 in grants for Bay High School’s football program if named the NFL’s national honoree.
Throughout the season, more than 750,000 votes were submitted by Northeast Ohio youth and high school football supporters through the 2017 Browns High School Game of the Week, in association with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).
