John Tuchscherer knew he’d get his chance to be a head football coach.

But the 2005 Rugby High School graduate didn’t know his opportunity would come this soon.

Tuchscherer was recently named the interim head football coach at Dickinson High School.

Tuchscherer was given the position for the 2013 season and will be re-evaluated after the year.

He was an assistant on the team the last two years, coaching special teams, receivers and the defensive line.

“It’s exciting. I’ve been with the team,” he said. “This will be the third year. I’m familiar with the players and the coaching staff. I’m not looking down the road. I’m just looking at being successful this year.”

Tuchscherer credited his past coaches for his interest in getting into the trade, including Scott Grochow at Rugby, and Hank Biesiot at Dickinson State, where Tuchscherer played defensive line.

“I’ve had a lot of good football coaches and seen how things are supposed to be done,” he said. “You learn how to do things the right way. There are things I don’t know how to do that I’m going to learn on the run, but I have a good coaching staff to help me out.”

The position was available when former Midgets coach Dennis Morris took a job in Georgia earlier this summer.

Tuchscherer is hoping to improve on a season where Dickinson made the Class AAA playoffs in 2012.

“We have some experience this year,” he said. “The kids that are starting this year have been starting for three years. Those guys are seniors now. Last year we made it to the first round of the playoffs. That’s experience that’s going to help us this year.”

He is planning to emphasize the team’s athleticism in implementing game plans for this season.

“We have a lot of experience returning to our team and a lot of skill position guys,” he said. “We have a lot of team speed. We’re looking at running more of a spread formation, but we’re still going to run the football and use the run to set up our pass.”

Tuchscherer, 26, said it’s an ideal situation to have for his first foray into head coaching at the high school level.

“It’s a great opportunity and you couldn’t ask for a better situation,” he said. “It’s nice to have already established relationships with everyone on the team.”