400 wins is a landmark number for high school football coaches across America. This fall our very own Jim Render joined a group of only 28 other coaches in the country with 400 victories while coaching high school football.

Jim Render’s career started at Carrollton, Ohio. The game was held on, September 11, 1970, a fall day in central Ohio and the town was ready to see their young, new coach in action. His Warriors would end up winning the game 12-7 after a interception that was returned 35 yards for a touchdown.

Following his two years at  Carrollton High School, Jim moved to the WPIAL and joined the Uniontown Raiders for five years. Then in 1979 he would find his true home, Upper St. Clair.

He found success quickly. Tim Robbins, a current assistant coach has an idea on why, “He has a tremendous desire to compete and win at anything that he does.” This desire to win led Coach Render and the Panthers to a  WPIAL AAAA title in 19889 (they did not participate in the state playoffs). The following season the panthers would retain their AAAA WPIAL title and also win a state championship.

A four year player of Upper St. Clair, Antonio Thomas, also had an idea on why he seems to always be winning; “He’s a really straightforward coach, and that helps us get better each day. ” Coach Render always recognizes the great players he has had in order to gain the enormous amounts of wins. Although, it seems to be clear that his coaching style that depends on day to day improvement is a large part in his success.

With so many wins Coach Render has always had an excellent coaching staff around him.  Mr. Robbins talks about why he has enjoyed being on the staff, “He lets his coaches coach[…] he has faith in his coaching staff.” You certainly can not win 400 games without having quality assistants working with you.   Therefore, Mr. Render’s attitude towards his coaching staff has to play a key role in his success as a coach.

Coach Render has shown time and time again how his teams can dominate on the field. Ben Lund, another player of Coach Render said this about the offense,  “He runs a really good offense and has the players to execute it.” Many of his players believe this to be true. They all believe in the offense and run it cleanly.

Coach Render started his career as a kid just out of college, now as he coaches his 40th season he looks back to his first game in Carrollton, Ohio and the 400 wins in between, the young men he has coached, and the fans that have watched his legendary career. Panther fans have enjoyed the ride with Coach Render and look forward to seeing more wins from their legendary coach.