Photo Courtesy/LAUREN FLORENCE ST. CLAIRSVILLE head coach Brett McLean speaks to his Red Devils' football team after a game last season. McLean recently became the all-time winningest coach with 135 victories. St. Clairsville will go for an undefeated regular season on Friday against Cleveland JFK.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Brett McLean can still hardly believe it.

And he’s really not sure when — or if — it will set in.

As it pertains to Ohio Valley high school football coaching, certain names simply resonate.

Considering McLean just displaced one of those names — George Strager — as the all-time leader in victories at St. Clairsville High School is tough for the recently turned 41-year old to wrap his head around.

By virtue of the Red Devils’ 41-40 victory in double overtime at South Range last Friday, McLean notched win number 135 in his now nearly 17-year career at St. Clairsville.

“I’m as humble as can be because I know if you’re not, you’ll get humbled really quick,” McLean said. “I am flattered, to death, to be mentioned in the same breath as George Strager who is the legend of our athletic program, in football in particular.”

McLean will be presented a plaque, commemorating his milestone prior to Friday’s game against Cleveland JFK. Members of the Strager Family are expected to be on hand for the presentation, representing their late father.

“I am flattered by all of this,” McLean said. “I know we’ve always given Coach Strager, his family and accomplishments the utmost respect during my time. We should because he molded a culture of a community of desire to be successful in football. We’re riding the coat tails of that success.”

The manner in which the Red Devils got the job done last Friday did nothing to help he comprehension of the entire ordeal.

“That win has resonated totally, but we’re proud to have gotten it and the way we got it,” McLean said. “We had some luck. We had some good fortune turn our way at times, but I think we prepared ourselves to have some of that fortune. We had some strong desire to go up there and make things happen as we chase all 10 wins.”

St. Clairsville will have a chance to complete a 10-0 regular season — which would be the fourth under McLean’s watch — on Friday against a two-win Cleveland JFK outfit.

Along with the individual milestone for McLean, last week’s victory sewed up the top seed in the Division IV, Region 15 tournament, which opens a week from Saturday, and locked up the OVAC Class 4A title, which is the second consecutive, fifth under McLean and 10th in school history.

Though he may not have realized it at the time, McLean was exposed to the ideals and concepts that Strager utilized early in his football career. As a Brooke Bruin in the mid 90s, McLean played under Paul “Bud” Billiard, another OVAC Hall of Fame coach, who had coached against Strager early in his career.

“I was fortunate to be around guys who worked with Coach Strager,” McLean said. “Coach Billiard would tell you, up front, that he took a lot of things from Coach Strager. They coached some great games against each other. Great coaching is great thievery and I am sure there were things I was being taught and instructed to do as a direct result of his relationship with Coach Strager.”

McLean went on to Mount Union and enjoyed a highly successful career, helping the Purple Raiders win three NCAA Division III National Championships. Upon finishing his playing career, he landed a job on the coaching staff at Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas.

“I was exposed to two polar opposite styles of offense as a player from high school to college,” McLean said. “We were a run-first team at Brooke and at Mount I was a defensive player, so I spent a lot of time defending some of the best offenses in college football history in practice each day. I hung on to what I was seeing. At Aquinas, I was on a great staff. We had four guys on that staff who are now all head coaches now.”

At 23 years old, McLean learned of an opening at St. Clairsville. Applied and as they say, the rest is history.

As a big-eyed younger coach, McLean didn’t think about any records. His thought process was simple.

“I was hoping to get my first win,” McLean laughed. “And I was hoping I wasn’t going to wind up out on the street hunting a new career. It’s been a long road to get to this kind of success, but it was fun. Every coach, every player and every kid I started with has a hand in where we are now. We endured some growing pains, but the kids, coaches and community never waivered. They stayed behind us.”

While many want to talk to McLean about some of his most successful seasons like the 2012 campaign when the Red Devils played for the Division IV state championship against Clarksville Clinton-Massie. Or the other seasons that the Red Devils made lengthy tournament runs.

“The first season is the one that always jumps out at me,” McLean said of that 3-7 2002 season. ”

But, for McLean, his mind always seems to revert back to some of the seasons where the Red Devils didn’t achieve the success that’s become almost expected.

“I am definitely a little bit different of a coach than I was when I first started and some of those early seasons eat me up worse than any of them,” McLean admitted. “I am sure we’re a more patient group.”

McLean pointed out that as the young guy and new kid on the block, he was matching wits with some of the Ohio Valley’s best year in and year out. He mentioned names like Dave Bruney (Martins Ferry), John Magistro (Bellaire), Ron Pobolish (Buckeye Local, Harrison Central), Rich Saccoccia (Harrison Central).

“I would sit down at meetings with some of those guys and I was younger than some of their sons,” McLean said. “They’re looking at me like, ‘who is this little school boy?’ But, I was listening to every word and taking it all in.”

Coaching records are aided by good players and McLean has had several, including a recent string of eventual college players.

“Without great players and great assistant coaches, these types of records or achievements do not happen,” McLean admitted.

McLean expressed his appreciation for all of the texts, emails, calls, cards and congrats he’s received from so many ex-players, coaches and even opponents.