Highlands football is no stranger to trophies and awards from all the state championships won here at Highlands. Usually the players get a lot of the credit, but not this time. Our very own head coach, Mr. Dale Mueller, received the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award this summer. Mueller has always done his best to lead the Highlands football team to the top. Coach Mueller has lead the team to back to back state championships in 2007 and 2008 and is now going for a third state championship in three years.

"Teams are about the players not the coaches," Mueller says. The Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award is a huge award given annually. The award is given by the Bengals to a coach of the year with a $5,000 donation to the Highlands High School athletic department. Coach Mueller was given this award on Tuesday, July 28 at Paul Brown Stadium.

Dale Mueller says, "I never thought about winning the coach of the year award when I started coaching or now. I think about how can I do the best job for the players on my team and help them be successful." Coach Mueller continued, "I don’t think this award was really given to me as much as it was given to the entire team which would include all of those who have a part in making the team successful."

Football has always been a big deal here at Highlands and in the community. Everybody in Fort Thomas loves to go to football games. The football players are the entertainment on Friday nights, and Coach Mueller has done a good job of making that entertainment the best in Kentucky. Coach Mueller is a very important and loved person here at Highlands and will hopefully be here for many years to come, to help lead Highlands to plenty more state championships.