From the Bench: Former BHS Lineman Wilhelm Goes from Success on the Ground to Career in the Air
By Jeff Toquinto on September 29, 2024 from Sports Blog
Tyler Wilhelm’s childhood dream of playing professional football is not that unusual. Decades before him and decades after him, a large majority of youngsters that head out on to a field to play the game will likely dream of doing the same thing.
Tyler, who played football for Bridgeport from 2007 to 2010, is a bit different. His father, the former coach and BHS teacher Fred Wilhelm, 
had done something in his youthful days very few people can say.
had done something in his youthful days very few people can say.
Fred Wilhelm nearly realized those professional dreams. The former Salem College standout earned a free agent spot with the Cleveland Browns before getting on with his life’s work as an educator and coach.
Tyler Wilhelm’s playing days ended in 2010, but he did manage to do one critical thing his father did. He got a chance to turn pro. He just did not do it on the athletic field.
Instead, Wilhelm did it differently than most. The path started typically with Tyler aggressively attacking his education. The 2011 BHS graduate headed to Morgantown and hit the books.
“I earned my teaching certificate at West Virginia University. I took a five-year accelerated master’s degree program in education,” said Tyler, who earned a master’s in secondary education.
The good news? He liked teaching. In fact, he really liked it for a year and a half where he had a near six-month stint in a permanent substitute position at Lincoln Middle School.
The bad news for the former starting left guard of the Tribe? He found out that the pay was not something he felt would match up with his needs – and wants.
“It just wasn’t paying the bills for me,” Tyler said, in an all-too-familiar statement for those in the education field or pondering it.
He pivoted to something more comfortable. He went to work in the oil and gas field, an area where he worked in the summers while in college. Tyler, who had spent time in the field in the industry in the past, eventually found himself being an office guy.
“I spent about 50 to 60 hours behind a computer screen,” Tyler, who also managed to stock aways funds as he worked relentlessly, said.
While the money was good, the idea of dealing with spreadsheets and sitting at a desk for the rest of his life did not seem to fit his professional desires. However, he needed something else to fit the mold.
He found it – thanks to a friend.
“I thought about being a pilot when I was in college, but I didn’t know if I had the skill or the aptitude for it. I just decided to contact a friend of mine from college who was a pilot,” said Tyler. “He told me about ATP Flight School, which is the largest one in the nation.”
He found one that appeared to work for him in Florida. The Gulf Coast worked for several reasons, including having family in the form of an aunt and uncle nearby.
So, in early 2020, he was back in school at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. The airport was home to the ATP school.
The start was actually in February of 2020, which was about the time COVID bust loose worldwide. However, Tyler Wilhelm was like the Indians’ ground game, and that was persistent.
When he started at ATP, he had zero flight hours. Three years later, he was type rated for a jet, which was the Airbus 320, the primary jet he flies today.
“It was great to complete something because I was 27 years old when I started. I knew I had to go all in to see if this was the career for me,” he said.
The first leg of the three-year journey saw Wilhelm earn the necessary certificates required to advance. Then, it was a matter of reaching
1,500 flight hours – the FAA minimum – to allow him to begin with an airline.
1,500 flight hours – the FAA minimum – to allow him to begin with an airline.
“When you are done with the certifications, you have roughly 350 hours and still need more experience flying a plane. To get the hours needed, I was a flight instructor at ATP where I taught people with zero experience all the way through their certifications,” he said. “After six months as a flight instructor, they made me one of the head flight instructors.”
He was in a group of about 35 instructors dealing with 65 students. By the time he was done teaching, he had the hours to begin his new profession, and the airlines had positions needing to be filled.
“Several airlines have partnerships with ATP and there were a lot of early retirements because of COVID so the industry didn’t have a lot of pilots,” Tyler said. “I got started right away in May of 2023.”
Tyler Wilhelm began his third round of post collegiate work as a pilot for Frontier Airlines. He started on the Airbus 320, which he primarily flies, that seats around 170 individuals. He also occasionally flies the Airbus 321, which seats 240 passengers.
Now, at age 31, Wilhelm is seeing the entire nation from the sky and also on the ground. He regularly flies to Atlanta, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Las Vegas. He also has flights to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
“I know people think about playing pro ball when their kids; I get that. But, if I were to talk to anyone in school now or their parents, I would tell them to 100 percent consider this. If you don’t want to be a pilot, get into A&P (airframe and powerplant), and become a mechanic because there are jobs everywhere,” Tyler said. “This doesn’t even seem like a job. I absolutely love doing it.”
Wilhelm said the pay is extremely high, particularly at the moment with a national shortage of pilots. He said he gets plenty of time off, does not work most weekends, and not only flies to cities, but occasionally gets to visit.
“I recently had a 30-hour layover in Boston and the airlines put you up in a nice hotel, they give you a per diem, and have transportation arranged at the airports for you,” said Tyler. “I had a great visit in Boston and can’t wait to go back there and see other parts of the country.”
The best part? It is not only part of his job, but the bulk of everything is on the airline’s dime. That is not the exception with Tyler Wilhelm, but essentially the rule in the industry.
“For the most part I get to see people flying to go on vacation or visit their families, and that’s rewarding. You add everything up and this is my career. I will end my career in the airline industry. It’s not pro football,” he said with a chuckle, “but my quality of life is better than I could have possibly imagined.”
Wilhelm, now 31, is nearly a decade and a half removed from his days at BHS and his playing days at Wayne Jamison Field. And just like his times with the Indians when he helped led the team on the ground, he has found success. This time, however, it is through the air.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Tyler Wilhelm during his senior year with the Indians football team. The second photo shows Wilhelm in the cockpit of one of the plane's he flies, while he is shown outside of one in third photo. He is shown at the offices of Frontier in the bottom image. All photos courtesy of Fred Wilhelm.
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