Hutch has their man; Cornelsen steps in–Audio

Athletic Director Eric Armstrong Interview

Hutchinson, Kan (westernkansasnews.com)-Ryan Cornelsen will take over as head football coach at Hutchinson High School for the 2014 season.

The new coach has spent the last five years at Hays High School where he compiled a 35-12 record. In the previous five years, the Indians’ record was 18-27. His team was WAC league champions three times, was district champion once and had two playoff appearances.

Hays is a Class 5A high school. Though now Class 6A, the Salthawks were Class 5A for several years and last played Hays in November 2011, the year Hutchinson won its seventh state football championship.

Overall, Cornelsen’s head coaching record is 88-25, a 79 percent winning record.

Prior to Hays, Cornelsen was head coach at LaCrosse High School, one of the few Class 1A or 2A schools to play 11-man football. While at LaCrosse from 2003 to 2008, Cornelsen was 53-13. During his LaCrosse tenure, Cornelsen’s teams were league champion three times, district champions four times, bi-district champions five times and regional champions twice. He also served as defensive coordinator for Trego High School from 2000 to 2002.

As a football coach, Cornelsen was head coach for the Kansas Shrine Bowl in 2013, was defensive assistant for the Shrine Bowl in 2012 and offensive assistant in 2007 and was WAC Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012.

Cornelsen also coached track at Hays, where he had state championships in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. His squads also were regional and WAC champions from 2010 through 2013.  At LaCrosse, he had 15 top-three state finishes, was league champions three times and had one regional championship in track.

At LaCrosse, Cornelsen served as athletic director for both the middle school and high school and was head teacher for LaCrosse High School from 2005 to 2008.

“My family and I are excited to be a part of the Hutchinson School District, and community,” Cornelsen said. “I look forward to the challenge of maintaining the excellence of Salthawk football.”

Eric Armstrong, athletic director at Hutchinson High School, sees Cornelsen as a good fit for the program and community.

“I am excited that Coach Cornelsen and his family have chosen to become part of our staff,” said Eric Armstrong, HHS athletic director. “Ryan is an outstanding coach who understands the time and dedication that it takes to be successful. Coach Cornelsen is a proven winner, and I believe the right person to lead the Salthawk football program.”

In addition to coaching football, Cornelsen will be a physical education teacher at Hutchinson. The new head coach received his master of science from Fort Hays State University in 2003 and his bachelor of science degree from Fort Hays in 2002.

He started his teaching career at LaCrosse from 2003 to 2008, teaching health, physical education and physical conditioning. At Hays, Cornelsen taught weights and conditioning from 2009 to the current school year.

Cornelsen replaces 17-year veteran Randy Dreiling, who announced in December he would leave the Salthawks to take over as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in suburban Kansas City.