KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs have announced the Coach of the Week honors for the tenth week of the 2023 season. The Week Ten awards go to St. Michael Head Coach Andy Pitts (Missouri) and Basehor-Linwood Head Coach Rod Stallbaumer (Kansas).
As a result of this honor, the awarded schools will receive a $500 grant from the Hunt Family Foundation. Additionally, the coaches will be presented a pair of sunglasses, courtesy of Oakley, a congratulatory commemorative Super Bowl LVII coin and a certificate recognizing their selection. These coaches are now qualified for the Eric Driskell Coach of the Year Award, which will be voted on later this fall. The Eric Driskell Coach of the Year Award is selected by a panel comprised of the Missouri and Kansas Boards from the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association.
After a 28-21 win against Holden on Friday night, St. Michael punched their ticket to the Class 2 District 6 championship game where they will face Lafayette County. With this win, the Guardians moved to 9-2 on the season which is the most wins in school history. Pitts and the team are excited about this award.
"This is so cool," Pitts said. "To get recognized by the Chiefs is really a team effort. Our whole team is super excited and grateful for this recognition. Everyone here has worked really hard, and this adds to an already fun season."
Basehor-Linwood extended its season with a 22-20 win over Louisburg on Friday, which was the first and only loss of the season for Louisburg. This win advanced the Bobcats to the Kansas Class 4A quarterfinals where they will play St. Thomas Aquinas. Stallbaumer credits this award to the hard work put in by everyone in the program.
"I wanted to thank the Kansas City Chiefs for this award," Stallbaumer said. "We have an incredible staff of coaches here that work extremely hard, a great group of guys that have bought in and showed a lot of resilience and grit to achieve what they have this season and a supportive community. This award is a great recognition of those efforts. We appreciate all that the Chiefs organization does to support high school football in Kansas City."
In its 27th season, the 2023 High School Coach of the Week is a joint initiative of the Kansas City Chiefs and the National Football League. This program is designed to recognize and reward Kansas City area high school coaches for superior performance on a weekly basis while honoring individuals who are shaping today's youth and tomorrow's leaders.
The Kansas City Chiefs partner with PrepsKC to select Coaches of the Week from Missouri and Kansas each week. PrepsKC is the only complete multimedia coverage of high school football in the Kansas City Metro. For the last 14 years it has combined a dynamic web site, weekly magazine and comprehensive weekly radio show. More information about PrepsKC, including scores, schedules and coverage can be found at www.prepskc.com.
