By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Fritz Hessenthaler’s return to coaching came with many more rewards than Orange’s 2025 record might indicate.
And he can’t wait to get working toward the next season.
Moments after Orange lost 42-0 to Southeast Alamance in the first round of the Class 5-A state playoffs Friday night in Haw River, he stood on the field and shared what he had previously told his wife and close friends.
“I needed these kids and they needed me, so it’s a very nice relationship,” Hessenthaler said.
Following his firing from Southern Alamance hours before the first 2023 playoff game, Hessenthaler was out of a football job for 19 months before his June hiring at Orange.
He took over a struggling Orange team. After seven consecutive losses, the Panthers won their final three regular-season games. They finished with a 3-8 record.
“Probably the most successful year I’ve ever had as a coach because we could have very easily been 0-10 and the kids would have been quitting after Week 3,” Hessenthaler said.
The Panthers have been in need of a rebuild. They were 2-8 in 2024 without a spot in the state playoffs.
Hessenthaler said he plans to be gearing up for next season beginning this week.
“I’m not going to take any time off,” he said.
Southeast also defeated Orange in the season opener. Stallions coach Tony Aguilar said there was a difference from that first meeting, noting that Orange’s defense dialed up blitzes and the Panthers were more physical at the line of scrimmage.
“They looked a lot better,” Aguilar said. “For what he’s got, I feel like he has done a really good job with them. They’ll just get better. He has a lot of sophomores. He knew what he was getting into.”
In Hessenthaler’s view, the progress was notable.
“You can’t really put a time on when exactly people start loving each other and buying in,” he said. “It happens little by little with different kids at different times. Right now, I really feel like we’re more bought in than we ever have been since I’ve been at Orange – in the middle of June when I didn’t know a kid and we had 19 players show up all summer.”
A few months later, there were more reasons to be encouraged.
“Sophomores are crying because they lost the seniors,” he said. “That’s a great thing. That means they expected to perform better than they did. If somebody cares, that’s the building block to anything, and these kids are resilient and they care.”
The Panthers will be back to Haw River to face Southeast in the 2026 opener.
