Wilson’s Doug Dahms approaching yet another coaching milestone
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Ironically, Wilson lost its season-opener at Pottsville in 1976, the first game for Doug Dahms as a Bulldogs assistant coach.
Wilson lost Dahms’ first game as a head coach, too, 14-12 to Governor Mifflin in the 2006 season-opener.
It hasn’t lost many in the two decades since.
Dahms will become just the third coach in Berks football history and one of only 11 active coaches in the state with 200 wins should Wilson win at Cedar Crest Friday.
In 20 seasons as head coach Dahms has a 199-45 record and the highest winning percentage (.813) in Berks history.
This is his 50th consecutive season on staff with the Bulldogs, who have won 460 times during that span. He was honored with an on-field ceremony following a 49-0 win last week over Reading High for his half-century of service.
One week after that stinging loss to Mifflin Dahms earned his first victory as a head coach 58-0 over Dallastown at Gurski Stadium, named in honor of John Gurski, the head coach who hired Dahms as an assistant.
His 50th win came at Cedar Crest in 2010, in his fifth season.
His 100th win came in Week 7 of 2014 in a 61-14 win at Conestoga Valley.
His 150th win came five weeks into the 2019 season at Penn Manor, 51-24.
Three weeks later he became the program’s all-time leader, surpassing Gurski’s record of 151 wins with a 14-7 victory at Hempfield.
Remarkably, Dahms has never been part of a losing season at Wilson. He joined the staff in 1976 with the Bulldogs coming off a 5-5 season. They have strung together 49 consecutive winning seasons since, the longest active streak in the state.
That’s an incredible achievement and one too many people take for granted. Things like that aren’t easy. Just look at the programs at Cumberland Valley and Manheim Central — among the most successful in District 3 history. Championships there looked automatic for decades, but each has slipped a notch in recent years.
Wilson remains at the top, unwavering.
Dahms’ resume as a head coach includes 14 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 titles, including a record nine straight from 2008-2016. That span saw the Bulldogs win 68 straight league games, setting a Lancaster-Lebanon League record for any section.
His teams have won four District 3 championships – 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016 – and recorded four unbeaten regular seasons (2008, 2010, 2013, 2014).
Dahms has been named Berks Coach of the Year twice, in 2008 and 2016, Section 1 Coach of the Year 13 times, and District 3 Coach of the Year three times.
Earlier this year he was inducted into the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Previously he had been inducted to the Hall of Fame at his alma maters, Muhlenberg and Lebanon Valley; by the school where he taught and has coached for half a century, Wilson; by the Berks County Football Coaches Association; and by the Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.
Bob Wolfrum of Wyomissing and Rick Keeley, who coached at Holy Name, Hamburg, and Berks Catholic, are the only Berks coaches with 200 victory.
Jim Roth of Southern Columbia is Pennsylvania’s all-time winningest coach with 516 victories. Nine other active coaches entered this season with 200 or more victories, according to PaFootballNews.com.
That list includes Kevin Clancy (377) of Strath Haven, Wolfrum (372), Bill Cherpak (335) of Thomas Jefferson, Jeff Weachter (290) of Bishop McDevitt, John Franco (282) of Tyrone, Art Walker Jr. (254) of North Allegheny, Paul Piccirilli (250) of Sharpsville, Mark Lyons (231) of Central Valley, and Max Shoemaker (225) of Chestnut Ridge.
Only Roth (.866) and Cherpak (.850) entered the season with a higher winning percentage than Dahms.
Doug Dahms’ year-by-year record
| Season | Overall | League |
| 2025 | 9-3 | 5-1 |
| 2024 | 11-2 | 6-0 |
| 2023 | 7-4 | 5-1 |
| 2022 | 8-3 | 5-1 |
| 2021 | 9-4 | 5-0 |
| 2020 | 6-1 | 5-0 |
| 2019 | 10-2 | 5-1 |
| 2018 | 8-4 | 6-1 |
| 2017 | 8-4 | 6-1 |
| 2016 | 12-2 | 7-0 |
| 2015 | 10-2 | 7-0 |
| 2014 | 14-1 | 7-0 |
| 2013 | 12-1 | 7-0 |
| 2012 | 13-2 | 7-0 |
| 2011 | 12-2 | 7-0 |
| 2010 | 11-1 | 7-0 |
| 2009 | 11-2 | 7-0 |
| 2008 | 14-1 | 7-0 |
| 2007 | 9-4 | 5-2 |
| 2006 | 11-2 | 7-0 |
