Jason Frakes, Louisville Courier JournalTue, November 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM UTC·3 min readChris Wolfe, who led the Male High School football program to two state championships during a 16-year run as head coach, announced his retirement Tuesday.
Wolfe recently completed 27 years of teaching, which is the first year full retirement benefits are available. He wouldn’t rule out coaching again.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I don’t know what doors are going to open,” Wolfe told The Courier Journal. “I don’t know where God is going to lead me. But I just know this is the time for me to step away. We’ve had a great run.”
Wolfe, 53, was named Male’s coach in 2010 and posted a 165-47 record over 16 seasons.
He led the Bulldogs to seven Class 6A state championship games — including five straight from 2018-22 — and won titles in 2015 and 2018. His 2015 squad, led by quarterback Hayden Shelton, running back Devin Gentry and defensive back Nate Hobbs, finished 15-0 and was ranked No. 8 in the nation by USA Today.
At a time private schools Trinity and St. Xavier were dominating Class 6A, Wolfe helped make it a three-team race.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“For a public school, with the obstacles we’ve had, I’m super proud of it,” Wolfe said. “I always tell people, ‘If it was easy, it would have already been done.’ There’s a lot of things we accomplished here that haven’t been done before.”
The Bulldogs finished 8-5 this season after falling to St. X 31-14 in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs.
Wolfe said recent changes in Jefferson County Public Schools’ student-assignment plan have made things more challenging at Male, where enrollment dipped from 2,026 during the 2019-20 school year to 1,764 during the 2024-25 school year.
“Somebody needs to figure this out because it’s quite a bit different,” Wolfe said. “But after doing this for 16 years, it probably doesn’t need to be me.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMale athletics director John Kelsey said he’ll begin accepting applications for Wolfe’s replacement later this week.
“Chris has done it with very limited resources and facilities,” Kelsey said. “I think that’s even more of a tribute to him. I’ve been at Male for 17 years and been an AD for 23, and I’ve never hired anybody any better than Chris Wolfe.”
Wolfe played football at Highlands High School and Campbellsville University (1995 graduate) before going into coaching.
He was the head coach at Hancock County (1997-98), Waggener (1999-2004) and Pleasure Ridge Park (2005-07) before taking two years off. In 2010, he replaced legendary coach Bob Redman at Male. He has a career record of 245-95.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWolfe’s coaching philosophy relied heavily on metrics and statistics.
“I’ve always been an analytical guy,” Wolfe told The Courier Journal for a story in 2019. “I grew up playing chess, and I guess the idea of having a move and a countermove has always been something I’ve gravitated to. It’s kind of in my wheelhouse. … I’ve always felt that numbers don’t lie. You can always have feelings about this or that, but the numbers tell the true story.”
Male is one of seven JCPS football programs with open coaching positions, joining Central, Jeffersontown, Moore, PRP, Valley and Waggener.
The St. Xavier job also will open at the end of the season as head coach Kevin Wallace has announced his retirement.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Obviously, for me, I have to find the next great coach,” Kelsey said. “We’re looking to keep Male playing at the top level. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Follow on X @kyhighs.
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Chris Wolfe, Louisville Male High School football coach, steps down
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