Bliss Marks New Territory

Former Conway Springs football coach Mark Bliss landed his fourth new job in five years over this past off-season. He will coach his first season at Edwardsville, Ill., this fall after coaching the past two seasons at Odessa, Mo. Bliss coached at Conway Springs when the school began its incredible seven-year run through the Class 3A state playoffs. State champs in 1998 and 2001-2003 under Bliss, Conway would win its fifth football title in school history in 2004 under current athletic director Greg Rosenhagen. During his tenure at Conway, Bliss coached 10 players who would play Division I football. Bliss took his single wing offense, with which he punished opponents while at Conway, to Palmetto Ridge in Naples, Fla., in 2004. But after a 5-5 record, the Oklahoma native returned to the Midwest in 2005 to coach at Class 6A Derby High in Kansas. Bliss did not win a game at the tradition-rich program, as Derby sunk to depths it had not seen before. Bliss packed up once again following that season and landed at Class 3 Odessa, Mo., (six classes in Missouri) where he strung together 6-4 and 8-3 records. Edwardsville, his latest job, could be his last, as they have a strong tradition. With 12 straight playoff appearances, Edwardsville was the 7A runner-up in Illinois in 2001 and 2002.