Legendary high school football coach Rod Wotton dies at 82
Nov. 25—Rod Wotton, who retired in 2010 as the winningest football coach in New England high school history, has died. He was 82.
Wotton was a head football coach for 47 years, beginning at the former South Berwick High in 1964.
His teams won 16 state championships at Marshwood High, where he compiled a 220-33-1 record over nearly three decades. In one stretch, the Hawks won 45 consecutive games, a streak that was the best in the nation when it ended in the 1987 playoffs. He resigned as the Marshwood coach in 1992.
In all, Wotton compiled a career record of 342-81-3, including 15 seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Dover, New Hampshire.
Wotton, a long-time resident of York, had suffered from Parkinson's disease for nearly two decades. News of his death was first reported by Seacoastonline.
Shortly after his retirement from coaching, Wotton reflected on his career in a 2011 interview with the Press Herald.
"I was lucky that I was in the right places at the right time," he said. "My chemistry and the kids' chemistry seemed to jell. I was fortunate to have great players wherever I was. And I always had the support of the administration. They let me do what I did."
