2025 Builder Inductee - Rob MacLachlan
Rob MacLachlan spent 32 years at Wallaceburg District Secondary School taking the football
program to new heights. Starting with the spring season in 1992, MacLachlan coached 25 junior football teams and 31 senior football teams. His teams won 14 Kent/LKSSAA championships, three SWOSAA titles and one OFSAA ‘AA’ championship (2012). Although he officially retired in 2023 and stepped down as head coach, he is still involved in the Tartans football program. In 2009, he was selected as the annual honouree for Builder of the Year by the Wallaceburg Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2011, MacLachlan was selected as an annual honouree for Coach of the Year. Also in 2009 he was selected as one of five finalists for the NFL high school football coach of the year that was presented during the Super Bowl. For being named a finalist, WDSS and the football program received $5,000.
A memorable part of MacLachlan’s time coaching football at WDSS were the numerous trips that he took with the team to play schools in the United States. Trips included Canton, Ohio and McKinley, Ohio who were ranked in the top ten in the country at the time, and whose quarterback was a Grade 9 student named Josh McDaniels who went on to win Super Bowls as a coach with the New England Patriots. Other locations included Tennessee where Wallaceburg was the first Canadian high school to play a game in that state, as well as Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
Despite winning only once, the Tartans played in some incredibly competitive games and gained lifetime memories being part of
Friday night lights that only American high school football can offer. Another memorable experience was taking part as an assistant
coach on Team Canada that played three games in Scotland and England in 1995. Getting his start as a teacher in elementary schools where he taught for five years, MacLachlan coached elementary girls basketball, winning numerous city championships. He also coached the football team at Chatham Collegiate and Tecumseh, both in Chatham, for a year each.
He moved to Wallaceburg District Secondary School in 1991, with intentions to run the girl’s basketball program. During his time at
WDSS, MacLachlan coached six basketball teams to Kent/LKSSAA championships, with the most recent one in 2023 with the junior
boy’s team. He was also a long-time coach with the Basketball Wallaceburg program. MacLachlan also founded the Chatham Flag
Football league in 1987 and operated it for 15 years. He played in the league until he was 50. The league still exists today.
MacLachlan attended Tecumseh High School in Chatham. An accomplished violin player, he began playing the violin at the age of
five and played competitively in competitions until the age of 17, winning numerous awards. His other passions included playing
football and hockey.
After graduating from Tecumseh, MacLachlan spent a year at Graceland College in Lamoni Iowa, where he was on a music
scholarship and played on the school’s football and hockey teams. Knowing that his path was most likely becoming a teacher, he then attended the University of Western Ontario, obtaining a degree in kinesiology, and then went on to the University of Windsor for his Bachelor of Education.
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