Schmidt jumps on board at Perkins

Jude Schmidt was not out of the high school softball coaching game for long. Schmidt, who stepped down as Huron's head coach in mid-June, accepted the Perkins coaching job a couple weeks later. "We're really excited to have Jude on board. He was interested in coming to Perkins and he's had a lot of success," Perkins athletic director Brad Watson said. "He was extremely confident and laid out his plan for success here. He's willing to hold kids accountable and we feel that he's a good fit for our program." The hiring of Schmidt was approved at Monday night's Perkins school board meeting. The supplemental position will pay the Pirates' new coach $6,462 for the coming school year. Schmidt was an assistant coach at Perkins in 2019 before taking the Huron job in 2020, which meant his first spring season with the Tigers was wiped out by COVID. He led the Tigers to a 92-56 record in six years on the field and took Huron to three district title games. The Tigers won the program's first-ever district title in 2023 and Schmidt's teams claimed three Sandusky Bay Conference titles. The Perkins job opened up after Scott Dickman stepped down at the end of the 2026 season. That piqued Schmidt's interest. "Matthew (Ayers, Huron athletic director) and myself had discussions of where I was at at Huron," Schmidt said. "He understood that when that (Perkins) job opened it was one I definitely was going to consider, and if they offered I was going to take it. "It's close to home (Schmidt lives in Perkins Township) and this will give me more time to spend with my family." Schmidt is the head coach for the Sandusky Bay Tornadoes 12U softball team. His youngest daughter, Kenzie, is on that team and will be a sixth-grader this fall in the Perkins system. "I'm building that Tornadoes team right now and that's where my focus was, but when the (Perkins) opportunity came open it seemed like the right time," he said. Perkins received nearly 10 applicants for the coaching job and Watson interviewed every one of them. He offered the job to Schmidt last week. Schmidt, who works in human resources at Revere Plastics System in Clyde, led a young Huron team to a district final this past season. Now he's looking forward to building up a Perkins program that has had two straight losing seasons. "I want to create the culture I've created with all my teams — that's work together and work as a team," Schmidt said. "We didn't play Perkins last year so I didn't get to see them, but I'm sure there's talent there and I know there's talent coming up. I know what's in the pipeline. "I love coaching the game and watching the kids grow as athletes and people. I've been fortunate to be able to do this twice, once for my oldest daughter Jayci (at Huron). Her travel ball team had a few more Huron girls than other schools. This time I get to do it again for my daughter Kenzie and her (12U) team has more Perkins girls."