Frank Tristan leaves Willard to take over as Glendale football coach
Former Willard head coach Frank Tristan will take over the Glendale football program, Springfield Public Schools confirmed to the News-Leader on Thursday afternoon.
Tristan, a Glendale grad, has been the head coach of the Tigers since 2021. He was hired after a stint at Division II Western New Mexico as its head coach. Before then, he spent time coaching at Kickapoo, Hillcrest and Evangel. He also played for the Valor football team.
Willard is coming off its best season under Tristan in which it went 1-10 in his first two years before turning in a 5-6 record this past season. He will be tasked with leading Glendale into its first season in the Central Ozark Conference next season.
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Tristan replaces Mike Mauk who was relieved of his coaching duties just two weeks before the 2023 season. Mauk, along with his son Ben Mauk, was often referred to in last year's Kylan Mabins case in which the coaches were deemed by SPS and MSHSAA to have "undue influence" with the quarterback as he moved from Kickapoo to Glendale. Mabins' football eligibility was eventually reinstated while Joel Heman served as the team's interim head coach.
Glendale football went 4-6 last season. Ben Mauk was recently hired as the head coach at Monett. Mabins will play college football at Central Missouri.
Willard is still searching for its next head coach. It posted its job for a new head coach at the end of January.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Frank Tristan hired by Glendale as next football coach
