COLLEGE PARK — To Todd Appel, it’s less of a Hall of “Fame” and more of a Hall of “Appreciation.”
Appreciation for the ability to impact so many South Cumberland lives, appreciation for the coaches that helped him along the way, appreciation for the players that worked so hard and for a family that’s always been there.
For the better part of 27 years as a head coach and an assistant, Appel helped Fort Hill reach never-before-seen heights, collecting a 142-16 career record and winning five state championships in 12 years at the helm among countless other accolades.
He was honored Saturday with his induction into the Maryland Football Coaches Hall of Fame, becoming the fourth Fort Hill head coach to receive the honor.
Even on a day that honored him, Appel gave all the credit elsewhere.
“It’s not just a Todd Appel thing, it’s an award that represents a lot of people,” he said. “This is about the coaches and players that worked hard to do the things that we did for so many years at Fort Hill.
“Why I got into coaching was to try and help out the kids who might not have had the great background. Give them the stability of a great program, possibly a father figure, and also show them that there is a God. God is in everybody’s lives. Look to him for guidance.”
Appel, a 1987 graduate of Fort Hill, was inducted alongside head coaches Reggie White of Milford Mill and Steve Crounse of Patuxent and assistant coach Jeff Cranford of Northern Calvert.
The coaches were also honored at halftime of the University of Maryland Spring Game in the afternoon. The ceremony was held at Gossett Team House that morning.
Members from Appel’s first Fort Hill team in 2008 — which advanced to the title game falling just one short of Tavon Austin’s Dunbar Poets, 20-19 — his first championship team in 2013, a host of people he’s coached with and many other supporters were in attendance Saturday.
His greatest supporters, wife Suzanne and children Harper and Walker, were there as well, just as they have always been, as were his brother Joey and sister Lisa.
“I couldn’t have been a Fort Hill football coach without them,” Appel said of his family, including his mother and sister-in-law and Harper’s fiancé Tater Hess.
During his speech, Appel talked about how daunting the Fort Hill job was when he was offered it.
There were many legendary leaders that came before him, and Saturday was a reminder of that, as Appel joined Bill Hahn (‘88 inductee), Charlie Lattimer (‘89) and Mike Calhoun (‘01-02) in the Hall of Fame.
“Those people that walked those footsteps before me did such a great job at Fort Hill High School,” he said. “I was just the guy two blocks down the street who admired Fort Hill football. My mom and dad instilled that in me at a young age.”
Appel highlighted two coaches in Calhoun, who he played for and coached with, and Barry Lattimer, who he coached with and succeeded, as significant influences.
“One thing that I said today, there have been 15 presidents from 1936 to now, and only 11 Fort Hill coaches,” he said.
“The thing that we tried to do at Fort Hill was to instill guidance, respect, all the things established by my predecessors. I didn’t want to screw things up. Make sure that we continued that tradition.”
Under Appel, Fort Hill equalled a state record with four consecutive Class 1A titles between 2013-16 (Urbana, 1998-01) and still holds the area record of 32 consecutive victories.
In total, Appel was part of 13 of the school’s 16 state championship appearances — seven as head coach, five as an assistant (1994, 1996-1998 and 2006) and one as a player (1986).
His Sentinels won nine region crowns, and he was honored with nine Area Coach of the Year awards and a state Coach of the Year honor in 2014.
The accolades, however, are not what Appel found most rewarding.
“Establishing the presence of God in the program,” Appel said of what he’s most proud of. “Adding team pastors. Helping those kids understand that there is a presence of God. A lot of people that I coached probably didn’t go to church much, but I feel like church was brought to them. We had a platform to provide that.”
Appel now lives in Snow Hill in Worcester County and still owns a house in Cumberland, which his kids live in.
He teaches at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, where he’s an assistant football coach.
“It’s always what I loved to do, and I’m thankful that God’s given me the ability to do it, and I still can do it,” Appel said of coaching football. “It’s where my energy goes, my passion goes.”