The Kansas City Chiefs have announced their Coach of the Week honors for the ninth week of the 2020 season. The awards go to Mid Buchanan High School coach Aaron Fritz and St. James Academy High School coach Tom Radke.
As a result of this honor, both schools will receive a $500 player health and safety grant from the Hunt Family Foundation. Additionally, both coaches will be presented congratulatory footballs autographed by Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid and a certificate recognizing their selection. Both 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.
Mid Buchanan moved to a perfect 10-0 on the season with a 55-6 win over Polo. The No. 1 ranked Dragons now play rival East Buchanan in the district finals.
"Our program really appreciates this honor and we are very humbled," Fritz said. "This is 100 percent a team honor and has nothing to do with just one person. We have great kids who put in a large amount of time in trying to help us be the best team that we can be. Our coaches all spend countless hours away from their families trying their best to make sure we are prepared and have the kids as prepared as they can be. I love all the kids and coaches and cannot thank them enough for all of the time and effort that they give."
Two weeks ago, St. James Academy knocked off eighth-seeded Louisburg 41-19 and then this past Friday took out top seed and No. 1 ranked Paola 45-35 to advance to the 4A quarterfinals against Basehor-Linwood.
"This is a great honor for our football team and for St. James Academy," Radke said. "I have an ALL-IN coaching staff led by our OC Matt Joshi and our DC Jason Denton. Collectively we put together a great game plan and the boys executed it. We came out aggressively at the start and that really helped us hold off a very good Paola team to get the win. We have had great senior leadership this year by Harry Spencer, Dakota Burritt, Brendon Lee, Sam Schmidt, and Jack Gossman. This is a great award in a normal year, and this year it feels even a little more special. It's been a challenging year, but we are grateful to be playing football in November."
In its 24th season, the 2020 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 11 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.
