Who could be the next head football coach at Penn High School? Here's 10 options
For just the second time since 1973, Penn High School is searching for a new head football coach.
Cory Yeoman announced his retirement Thursday after 21 years leading the program. He was preceded by Chris Geesman, who was the Kingsmen’s coach from 1973-2002. Penn never had a losing season in the combined 51 years of Geesman and Yeoman, with Geesman winning 310 games and five state championships and Yeoman 208 games.
Noie: Penn High School football coach Cory Yeoman heads into the sunset
There’s a lot that goes into being the head coach at Penn. It’s as much about managing a “monster,” as Yeoman called it, as it is the X’s and O’s of football. With more than 100 athletes in the program, great facilities and the eighth-biggest enrollment for a school in the state, it’s more like a small college job than it is a high school one sometimes.
Who would be the right person to fill the job? Penn could hire from within, just like they did with Yeoman. He had been an assistant for 19 years under Geesman before getting his chance to lead the program. Yeoman’s father, Wally, had also been an assistant coach, and Yeoman himself was the first Penn player elected to the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame.
Yeoman checked a lot of boxes in 2003. It made the hiring easy.
More: Here's where South Bend area high school athletes signed Wednesday
If Penn were to hire someone from the outside, though, who would be the best option? It’s easy to assume there will be several quality candidates, given the history and prestige of the program. Penn would likely want someone with a proven track record that could sustain the winning done under Geesman and Yeoman.
Below is a list of 10 coaches from across the state that could be options for Penn.
Chad Eppley, Northridge
Eppley has had a tremendous three seasons at Northridge. He’s gone 27-13 with three-straight Class 4A sectional championship game appearances, winning two of those while also adding regional and semistate titles in 2021. He’s shown an ability to maximize his talent, with his “Why not us” rallying cry leading the Raiders program to heights previously unseen. Eppley is only 30 years old as well, which could set up nicely for a lengthy tenure at Penn.
From 2021: How Chad Eppley got the Northridge football team to buy into him
Stephen Moriarty, Tippecanoe Valley
Moriarty took over a struggling Vikings program in 2017 and made them highly successful. A ludicrous sectional alignment put them in the same field as numerous Indianapolis-based powerhouse schools at the 3A level, leading to tough early-round exits. Still, Moriarty has gone a combined 28-4 the last three years, including a 9-0 regular season in 2023.
Cody French, Michigan City
French has only coached the Wolves for one season, so he might not want to leave so soon. They went 6-5 last season after winning two games the year prior. French led Calumet for two seasons as well, with its 9-2 record in 2022 tying for the best mark in program history. He was the defensive coordinator for Elkhart in 2020, guiding a unit that finished third-best amongst 6A schools, winning Northern Indiana Conference and sectional championships as well.
Chris Skinner, Andrean
Skinner knows what it’s like to coach against a strong schedule, as Andrean plays all its regular season games against schools bigger than it. He’s been successful also, rattling off regional, sectional, state and semistate titles in a four-year stretch from 2019-2022. His overall record with the 59ers is 69-32.
Gabe Johnson, Bloomington South
Johnson has won three-straight Class 5A sectional titles for the Panthers, adding a regional championship this past season as well. He also won a sectional at Triton Central in 2011, with his combined record between the two stops being 46-21.
Austin Colby, Kokomo
Colby has never had a losing season across six years at Maconaquah and Kokomo combined. He led the Wildkats to a 4A regional title in 2022, losing by one point to New Prairie in the semistate championship game the following week. They went 9-3 last year, running his career record to 49-18.
Jason Doerffler, Leo
Doerffler struggled across eight seasons at Fort Wayne Northrop but has seemed to find his footing at Leo. He led the Lions to an 8-4 record in 2022 and 11-3 last year, winning sectional and regional titles before losing to NorthWood in semistate. Leo could be a title contender once again in Class 4A this year, which could be hard for Doerffler to leave.
Kyle Buresh, Mississinewa
Buresh is coming off his best season with the Indians, going 12-1 and winning a sectional title. He won a sectional championship in 2021 as well and has gone 34-13 in four seasons leading the program.
Vince Lidy, Mount Vernon Fortville
Lidy led the Marauders to a Class 4A state title over Eppley’s Raiders in 2021, his first year with the program. He’s 27-10 in three seasons at Mount Vernon.
Mike Kirschner, Warren Central
This is the true longshot option on the list, as it’d be hard to pull someone away from a 6A job in Indianapolis. He won two state titles at Ben Davis (2014, 2017), won regional and sectional titles in his final two seasons and Mount Vernon (2019 and 2020, respectively) and has won back-to-back sectionals at Warren, albeit with teams that finished 6-6 and 5-7, respectively. Kirschner is a proven winner, evident by his 155-87 overall record.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Who could be the next head football coach at Penn High School? Here's 10 options
