(Elk Horn) Former Elk Horn-Kimballton football and track coach Scott Yates joins the “Why I Coach” series. Yates is back in his home state of Nebraska where the McCool Junction team he serves as offensive coordinator for won the 6-man state title last fall.
The Nebraska Wesleyan alum wanted to be near Omaha and found an Elk-Horn Kimballton opening in the World Herald. “To be a PE Teacher is really quite competitive because everybody wants to dress up in gym clothes and roll a ball out and tell kids to play. Elk Horn took a chance on me and I’m very appreciative of that. I had no connections there, but by the time I left I made a lot of great friends and worked with a lot of great kids. Just very thankful for the opportunity to work over there in Southwest Iowa for quite a few years.”
He lists several great coaches from Elk Horn-Kimballton and/or Exira that were beneficial in his career. “Doug Newton is a great coach there that I really admire. Tony Petersen was our Athletic Director and just had a great knack for working with kids, a very successful coach. Ross Blake, he and I both came in together and were track coaches together. Terry Weisenborn was a guy I coached with from Exira.” Yates spent a couple of years helping out in Atlantic as well where he lists Nick Ross, Tim Duff, Alan Jenkins, and Roger Warne as guys he looked up to and learned a lot from.
One of the biggest career highlights came when McCool Junction won the 2020 state football championship. “I have a long list of highlights from coaching, but it’s just the most incredible feeling. We just had an activities banquet this past week and just to feel those memories again it was one of the greatest feelings I’d ever felt in my life to do that.”
McCool Junction is 31-3 over the past three seasons. He says being the offensive coordinator in 6-player football is a ton of fun because it’s a wide open game. “It’s been great, it’s been fun. I’ve gotten to coach 11-man, 8-man, 6-man. There are advantages and uniqueness to each of those, but the 6-man game is pretty fun.”
Football and track have been the main sports he’s coached at the high school level, but he’s also been involved with a lot of basketball and some softball among other sports.
https://soundcloud.com/hyoach/scott-yates-elk-horn-kimballton
Previous Coaches
John Kesselring, Adair-Casey alum
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Dick Strittmatter, Atlantic native
Chad Klein, Audubon Native (Kuemper Catholic and Boone)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Monte Riebhoff)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Steve Ahrendsen)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Scott Weber)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Curt Mace)
Chris Stimson, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Scott Yates, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Jan Jensen, Elk Horn-Kimballton alum
Seth Poldberg, EH-K grad and Guthrie Center coach
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Angie Spangenberg, Harlan and Red Oak
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Lanny Kliefoth, Nodaway Valley
Chad Harder, (Walnut Grad) Tri-Center
