INDIANAPOLIS — Warren Central High School is paying tribute to the late Larry Willen, a beloved coach and teacher whose influence spanned more than five decades in MSD Warren Township.
Willen, who died in 2019, served as a fixture in the Warriors’ athletic program, helping lead all nine of Warren Central’s state football championship teams and guiding four track and field squads to state titles from the mid-1980s through the early 2000s.
Beyond the sidelines, Willen taught at the school for nearly four decades, shaping the lives of countless students with a philosophy centered on the belief that “everybody has value.”
“His calling was to find that and help young people develop it,” Scott Willen, Larry’s son said. “When we’d ask him about his favorite team, it was always the one he was coaching at the time, Reid Willen, Larry’s son added.
As part of Friday’s tribute, the school has unveiled a renovated locker room named in Willen’s honor.
Willen began his career in Warren Township in the mid-1960s and remained a prominent presence until his death, serving as both a defensive coordinator and, for one season, a head football coach. Former colleagues said his teaching skills were as evident in the classroom as they were on the field.
“Every aspect of coaching you could see within his classroom as well as a coach, he was doing a lot of teaching,” Masimba Taylor, Warren Central High School Principal, said.
One enduring symbol of Willen’s coaching days was a yellow-and-black “bumblebee” shirt. The shirt became a sort of good-luck charm, appearing in every game during the Warriors’ run of four consecutive state championships. Then in 2009, the school won a state championship in 2013 and 2018.
“Larry wasn’t just a football coach — he was my life coach,” Scott Willen, Larry’s son added.
As his name now graces the walls of the new locker room, Warren Central High School ensures that Willen’s legacy remains a lasting part of the school’s history and the east side community.
