Fort Hays State University announced Wednesday (Nov. 10) that head football coach Kevin Verdugo will not be returning next season. He will complete his sixth season as head coach of the program this weekend when Fort Hays State plays at Missouri Western. In six seasons, Verdugo helped the Tigers transition from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to the very difficult competition level of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
In his tenure as head coach, the Tigers have an 18-46 record. Fort Hays State had its best season under Verdugo last year with a 6-5 mark and a sixth-place finish in the MIAA.
Verdugo was an assistant coach at Akron University before taking the head coaching position at FHSU. The Pittsburg, Kan., native was also a head coach at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College for three years from 2001 to 2003 and previously held assistant positions at Southern Illinois, Northern Michigan, Southeast Missouri State and Northern Colorado.
The search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"I want to thank everybody in the community that supported us over the years," said Coach Verdugo. "I want to thank a lot of people at the university for their support and everything they've done for our program. I wish the players and everyone here well."
"We are very grateful that our football team is in a better position today than it was prior to Kevin's arrival," said FHSU Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke. "We want to thank him and his staff for all their work and efforts for putting us in a better position to continue to grow in this very challenging conference."
"I want to thank Kevin on behalf of the university," said FHSU President Dr. Edward H. Hammond. "I don't think anybody really understands the amount of time and effort he put into our program. It would be a mistake if we don't recognize that this program is a heck of a lot better off now than it was six years ago. We're not talking about just the talent of the athletes, but if you look at academics, community citizenship and the competitiveness in the conference, we were able to make giant strides in all those areas because of Coach Verdugo. I give him all the credit for that success."
Hammeke added, "There's a point in time where our progress stalls to where we need to transition to a different step. At this point in time, we need to try and get to the next level in terms of wins and losses, because that's the next area by which we are going to be measured and evaluated."
When asked about the timing of the decision, Hammeke responded, "We had the luxury to do that because of the professionalism of the staff. It wasn't a concern to me knowing Kevin the way that I do for us to do something like this now, as opposed to another week or two weeks down the road. You don't have the luxury to do that if you don't have trust in a coach."
When asked by a reporter about the angst among local people over the number of Kansas recruited to the program, was it a factor in the decision that certain Kansas kids were not coming here?
President Hammond responded, "No, that's not a factor. We want to win, and to win you have to get the best talent you can. It's hard because expectations in this area are to recruit local kids all the time. They may be the best player on their team or in their league, but when you put them up against players from states that play at a higher level, the skill set is different. You've got to go get the best possible kids you can get, and I think you saw that in the talent we've had on the field under Coach Verdugo."
