{"id":6882,"date":"2026-08-04T17:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T17:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=6882"},"modified":"2026-08-04T17:49:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T17:49:23","slug":"foltmer-inducted-into-state-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/?p=6882","title":{"rendered":"Foltmer inducted into state hall of fame"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Longtime Middletown High School football coach one of 10 selected; ceremony is Oct. 17<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brian Sumpter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake County Sports on Facebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PASADENA >> The California High School Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 includes a star-studded group of seven players and three coaches, a group featuring the likes of NFL stars Derek Carr, Keyshawn Johnson and Pat Tillman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll be joined by players Travis Kirschke, Darrell Russell, James Washington and Robert Woods, and a trio of coaches that includes a name Lake County and Redwood Empire football fans might be familiar with, longtime Middletown High School head coach Bill Foltmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming,\u201d Foltmer, 70, said of the news that he was being inducted. \u201cI\u2019m appreciative of all the people who took the time out to nominate me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vetting process for the California High School Football Hall of Fame, which is selected every other year instead of annually, is a comprehensive one. Nominations for the Class of 2026 opened in November of 2025 and closed in January of 2026. Foltmer was nominated by a host of individuals, including past and current coaches, past and current school officials, community members and members of the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His credentials while serving at Middletown certainly helped the Hall of Fame committee make its decision. Foltmer took over the Middletown program prior to the 1985 season and retired following the 2024 season with 314 victories, making him the state\u2019s active wins leader at that time. He won 295 games at Middletown and the other 19 at Princeton High School in Colusa County where he coached for five seasons before moving to Middletown in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know I\u2019m representing Middletown, but I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m representing all of Lake County,\u201d Foltmer said of his induction, which will take place Oct. 17 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena where UCLA will play Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rose Bowl also houses the California High School Football Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very blessed to have a lot of friends who helped me reach this point,\u201d Foltmer said of a long list of assistant coaches who served with him for 15 or more years, including Jim Garrett, Tom Knowles, Moke Simon, current Middletown head coach Kurtis Woodard, longtime Lower Lake head coach Gordon Sadler, Tim Gill, Bob Schoenherr, Brad Belden, Tony Hart, Marnin Pyzer, Ray Simon, Airic Guerrero and Paul Silva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foltmer said the support of longtime athletic director Geri Giovanetti was instrumental in his successful career at Middletown as was the hard work and dedication of his players at Princeton and Middletown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor 45 years I was thankful to be in programs where the kids were so dedicated,\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cI never had a problem getting kids to show up for practice or work hard for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daughter Kailei Foltmer began the nomination process for her dad late last year and did her best to keep it a secret until several of those nominating Foltmer reached out to him about the honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis wouldn\u2019t be happening without her,\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cShe got the ball rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While no longer active in the day-to-day operations of the Middletown football program, Foltmer left the Mustangs in the capable hands of longtime assistant Woodard, who guided the Mustangs to the school\u2019s fifth section championship last season. Middletown\u2019s first four section titles came under Foltmer\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he was the beneficiary of numerous awards during four-plus decades of coaching high school football, induction into the California High School Football Hall of Fame will be hard to beat, according to Foltmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the cherry on top right here,\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cTo end your career on a wonderful honor. It\u2019s a great way to go out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s a tremendous individual honor, Foltmer said he hopes his induction will help other small-school athletes and coaches receive recognition from the California High School Football Hall of Fame, which is largely dominated by large-school athletes and coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully it creates a few more opportunities for the small schools,\u201d Foltmer said. \u201cThey work just as hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longtime Middletown High School football coach one of 10 selected; ceremony is Oct. 17 By Brian Sumpter Lake County Sports on Facebook PASADENA >> The California High School Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 includes a star-studded group of seven players and three coaches, a group featuring the likes of NFL stars Derek Carr, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6884,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6882\/revisions\/6884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briansumptersports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}