MORROW – Pending Board of Education approval, Little Miami Schools is proud to announce Arryn Chenault as The District's 19th head football coach in the program's 67-year history. Since the program was founded as a member of the Warren County League in 1957, the Panthers have compiled an overall record of 271-384-8 (.410).
In 1959, Little Miami joined many other local Warren County schools as a founding member of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference and remained there until 2012. During that span, the Panthers claimed five FAVC titles (1966, 1985, 1988, 1987, and 1992), and Team 36, which competed during the 1992 season, remains the program's only team to enjoy a 10-0 regular season campaign.
From 2012 to 2019, Little Miami was a member of the Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC), and in the fall of 2020 the Panthers moved into the Eastern Cincinnati Conference (ECC).
With more than 60 applicants vying to become Little Miami's next head coach, Chenault was no stranger to Little Miami as he comes to The District from ECC rival Winton Woods High School where he was an assistant coach during the 2023 season. Through the search process, Chenault rose to the top by separating himself from other candidates with his incredible other-centered character.
"During the interview process, Coach Chenault truly exemplified exceptional character and an unwavering work ethic," said LMHS principal Dr. Kevin Harleman. "His dedication to the sport and commitment to developing our players is unmatched. We are fortunate to have him on board, and I am confident that under his guidance, Little Miami football will achieve great success. I am eagerly looking forward to the positive impact he will make on our players both on and off the field."
In October of 2022, Arryn's uncle Darryn, who is a beloved local football coach, was sidelined from coaching as he searched for a kidney donor while battling kidney failure.
Fast forward to this past spring, and the Chenault's received the call from Christ Hospital that the two coaches were a match. On June 6, Arryn gave the ultimate gift of extended life to his uncle Darryn, and their relationship was radiantly magnetic to Little Miami's search committee.
With Arryn's assent into his first head coaching role, it would be no question that his first move as the Panthers' new leader would be to invite his uncle Darryn onto the staff with him as the Panthers associate head coach when departing from Jon Kitna's Lakota East staff. And ironically to bring it all full circle, Little Miami will host Lakota East on Thursday, August 15 at 7 PM in their final preseason scrimmage before the 2024 regular season kicks off at Springboro in nonconference action on Friday, August 23, 2024.
"When we were executing our search, there were several variables that we sought to find in the leadership equation for our next head football," said Little Miami athletic director Matt Louis. "We gave this search maximum effort while keeping our student-athletes as our focus when navigating this process with compliance and integrity," Louis continued. "As we remained steadfast to those principles, the result is that we found an incredible father, man, and educator-coach in Arryn Chenault. The students of Little Miami deserve a leader such as him. Coach Chenault's other-centered gift of life is proof that he is willing and able to lead the continued assent of this program."
Chenault's outstanding prep career at Fairfield High School in Butler County resulted in him being rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com while playing for head coach Aaron Fitzstephens. Additionally, he was ranked as the No. 41 player in Ohio and the No. 68 and 76th outside safety nationally by those two entities. Athletic accolades that Chenault garnered as a Fairfield Indian included an all-Region selection by PrepStar Magazine. He was a two-time team MVP, and named all-GMC, all-County, all-City, and all-Southwest as a junior and senior. Statistically, he led the team in tackles and interceptions as a junior and senior, while the multi-sport athlete also played basketball and ran track while being named a three-year honor roll student in the classroom.
Following his time at Fairfield, Arryn graduated and enrolled as a full-time scholarship student-athlete at the University of Cincinnati in Clifton. Chenault enjoyed a successful playing career as a Bearcat under the tutelage of head coaches Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, and finally Tommy Tuberville. Upon graduation, Chenault was a two-time team captain during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, while also logging numerous starts and statistics that made him a viable NFL prospect.
Following his career as a player, Chenault spent the 2016 season as the defensive backs coach at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. From there, he moved to Sycamore High School in Montgomery where he was a varsity assistant and JV defensive coordinator for the Aves in 2018 and 2019. His experience there led to the opportunity to become a full-time varsity assistant coach as the defensive coordinator at Norwood High from 2019-2021. In 2022, he was an assistant at Lakota East and during the 2023 season, he was elevated into the special teams coordinator role under head coach Chad Murphy at Winton Woods.
Chenault graduated from the University of Cincinnati in May 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in english literature and creative writing and obtained a Master of Education in education with a special education license from Xavier University in 2019. Additionally, he has been a special education teacher for the past six years and is married with two young children.
"I am thrilled about the opportunity to lead the Little Miami football program," said Coach Chenault. "I intend to start building relationships with the young men in our program, the teachers, staff members, and the community immediately," Chenault continued. "Culturally, we will create a family-like environment where we will transform the boys into men. On the field, we will strive to build a physical team that is relentless, hardworking, smart, and disciplined."
Little Miami opens its regular season on Friday, August 23 at Springboro. In the meantime, team-level information and Coach Chenault's introduction to the team and families will be forthcoming. A link to the 2024 LMHS varsity football schedule is available HERE!
Year: Organization (Position)
2016-2018: Walnut Hills High School (Assistant Coach)
2018-2019: Sycamore High School (Assistant Coach)
2019-2021: Norwood High School (Assistant Coach-Defensive Coordinator)
2022: Lakota East High School (Assistant Coach)
2023: Winton Woods High School (Assistant Coach-Special Teams Coordinator)
