Following a one-year hiatus from the Kansas City area, Chip Sherman is coming home.
Well, sort of.
The former Platte County-turned-Salina South football coach has officially accepted the head football coaching position at Shawnee Mission East High School.
Sherman cited the economy and an opportunity to be back with his family as the main reasons for his decision to return to the Kansas City area. Next fall, Sherman will have just a 30-mile commute to his new position with the Lancers.
“This was a very hard decision for me because I love the kids and the people I work with and work for at South,” Sherman told the
Salina Journal. “My family is back there, and I’m going to be a grandfather any day now. My wife and I will have our first grandchild, and one of our daughters is getting married this summer.
“With the economy the way it is, it would be hard to ask my wife to pick up and move here, and it’s difficult keeping two households.”
Sherman began his head-coaching career at Missouri's Platte County in 1988. After 20 seasons with the Pirates, he had amassed a 191-37 (.837) record and won 10 league and 12 district championships competing in the Suburban Small 6 league.
From 2000-2002, Sherman led the Pirates to three Missouri Class 3 state titles and a 52-game winning streak. Sherman left the Missouri high school coaching ranks with the second highest winning percentage among head coaches with at least 200 games of coaching experience.
Despite accepting a coaching position in the first division of the rugged Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League, Sherman guided the Cougars to an 8-3 record and a spot in the 2008 Kansas high school football playoffs after South went just 2-7 in 2007.
After belting Winfield 56-24 in the first round of the playoffs, South bowed out to eventual 5A state champion Hutchinson 28-0. The Cougars fell to the Salt Hawks 44-7 during the second week of the season.
South’s only other loss was a narrow 43-42 deficit to 6A semifinalist Derby.
Sherman will have another rebuilding job waiting for him when he arrives at Shawnee Mission East. A season ago, the Lancers finished with a 3-6 record while playing in the Sunflower League.
Football Recruiting: Brown selects Tennessee
Bryce Brown, Wichita East
Photo By Walter Dixon
Wichita East running back Bryce Brown kept those waiting to hear of his college choice brimming with suspense up to the moment he placed a Tennessee hat on his head.
After catching his brother Arthur off guard by pulling a Miami hat out of his bag of tricks and handing it to the Hurricane linebacker, Brown sized up the true colors he would be wearing in the near future - Volunteer Orange.
Brown committed to Miami in February of 2008 thinking the recruiting process was over. But after a few twists and turns the process came to an end Monday when he signed, sealed and faxed his letter of intent to the Southeastern Conference school.
After considering the University of Oregon for several months and visiting with Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, Brown decided that Rocky Top was the best fit for him.
“If this was a fleshly decision, I would have went to Oregon. I loved everything about it. But this was all spiritual,” Brown told the
Wichita Eagle. “God basically put it on my heart. When I first went down there, I wasn’t feeling it. My second trip down was very helpful. I prayed about it and I just felt it.”
Boys Basketball: CSU good fit for Lawrence’s GreenAfter receiving a visit from Colorado State head basketball coach Tim Miles Monday, Lawrence guard Dorian Green verbally committed to the Mountain West Conference school.
The 6-foot-1 guard, who was named the Sunflower League and All-Area Player of the Year following the 2008-09 basketball season, locked in on the school after visiting the Fort Collins campus on the final day of February.
Miles' visit was the icing on the cake.
“(Coach Miles) is kind of rebuilding the program, and I have a chance to go there and be a part of rebuilding Colorado State,” Green told the
Lawrence Journal World. “It was pretty much a no-brainer. It shouldn’t have taken this long, actually.”
As the only true guard in CSU’s 2009 recruiting class, Green appears to be in an excellent position to receive playing time during his freshman season.
