Members of the Yorktown Football Community –

Coach Hanson announced today he is retiring as the head football coach.

This season marked Coach Hanson’s 40th at Yorktown High School. The members of this year’s varsity team had the honor of delivering him his 300th victory. These numbers are rarely achieved by head football coaches and put him at the top of his profession in the state and throughout the country.

Masked by those numbers are the countless players he has positively impacted and mentored, dating back to his start as the head football coach at Wakefield High School in 1975. Thousands of young adults learned much more than football from Coach, including how to be part of a successful program with humility and modesty. Many of his players came back to coach with him and remained loyal to him, leading to minimal staff turnover and allowing the focus to be on the development of the players.

Coach Hanson’s impact on football was always transformative. He was typically one step ahead in the areas of player safety and on-field game strategy. Before the VHSL implemented restrictions on practice length and time spent tackling to the ground, Coach Hanson had modified Yorktown’s practice routine to reduce full contact and changed from two-a-days in the summer to one practice with the intention of reducing the risk of injuries. On the field, the wing T offense is renowned in this area as being perfected by Yorktown and is talked about by opposing coaches with envy and fear.

Recently, while participation in the sport of football declined, participation at Yorktown steadily increased. Much of this is due to the culture he created where young kids in the community grow up wanting to play football for Yorktown and aspire to step onto the Yorktown field in 8th grade.

As we thank Coach Hanson for his unparalleled commitment to Yorktown High School and the Yorktown High School football team, we begin the process of moving forward.

Our goal is to have a new coach in place no later than the first few weeks of January to oversee winter conditioning and start laying the foundations for next season. Applications will be accepted until December 6 and as members of the Yorktown community, we encourage you to reach out to those you think would be a good fit to lead our 120-player, three-level football team. Interested parties can reach out to me with their resume and letter of interest.

Sincerely,

Mike Krulfeld
Director of Student Activities