Logan Minnick brings consistent success as new HC of the Kearney High football team
KEARNEY, Mo. — After nearly three straight decades without a winning football season, Logan Minnick took over as head coach of the Raytown football program. The turnaround was remarkable. His teams won several conference championships and made deep playoff runs during his tenure.
Now coach Minnick brings his leadership skills to the Kearney Bulldogs. The program has a history of success, including four state championships and no losing seasons in over 20 years. Minnick was already a part of that success, having served as an assistant on the 2015 and 2016 Bulldogs teams that competed in back-to-back state championship games.
“Beating Webb City as an assistant coach for a state championship in 2015 on a fumble at the goal line was a pretty incredible experience,” Minnick said.
Minnick was born and grew up in Richmond, Missouri. As a Spartan, he played football, basketball and competed in track. Excelling in mathematics, he was on the math team as well. He enrolled at William Jewell to study accounting. Minnick played free safety for the Cardinals and kept his eye on coaching. One of his best friends and college roommate at Jewell, Dan Lanning, was recently hired to be the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. After college, Minnick had stops at Richmond, Staley, North Kansas City, Kearney, Raytown, and now back to Kearney.
“Kearney is a football town,” Minnick said. “That was one of the biggest attractions for me to come back. You can’t beat being at a Kearney home game on a Friday night. You have the fireworks going when they score a touchdown. You have the fans packed in and the little Bulldogs are running around. It is important to the whole town and the community supports the program.”
Coach Minnick is a self-described “film rat,” who watches hours and hours of video on opponents and his own team. One of Minnick’s proudest moments in coaching came as an assistant in 2015, in Kearney’s 35-16 victory over Westminster in the state semi-finals.
“We had film on every game for them,” Minnick said. “They ran a reverse pass in week four. We noticed the receiver took his glove off to be able to throw the reverse pass. During meetings with the kids, prior to the game, I showed that to them. In the game, between plays, the receiver switched his glove. From the sideline, I signaled it was coming. Sure enough, they ran it. Our outside backer ran up and picked-off the pitch and ran it back to their two-yard line. I realized I actually had an impact as an assistant in that game.
“I think the two most important things are attitude and effort. That is what we will base our whole program on. Those are the pillars. No matter what you do after high school sports, attitude and effort are what give you a good chance to be successful. As coaches, we must understand the impact we have on young men’s lives. Being able to mentor and grow young boys into young men is the most rewarding part of coaching.
“Ultimately, I want our kids to come back some day on a Friday night in the future and feel like they are part of the community. I want to see the smile on their face when they come back to see us–knowing they have someone that is a part of their life forever.”
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