CRESTLINE — Although it was officially announced in April, the Crestline Bulldogs football squad took to their first days of practices recently under new leadership. Last season, now former head coach Kevin Sipes informed the school that he would be stepping down as coach after five seasons with the ‘Dogs.
The Crestline Athletic Department would then begin their search for a new head coach and found it in the hire of Jonathan King.
King, 31, comes to Crestline High School from Madison Comprehensive High School. For the past seven seasons, King has served in various roles on the coaching staff at Madison, including offensive line coach, linebackers coach and head freshman coach. He has been a teacher in the Madison Local School District since 2013, teaching various art courses.
King is a 2010 graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene University and is currently working towards his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University. He graduated from Clear Fork High School in 2006. King and his wife Jenny have three children Noah (7), Levi (5), and Eliana (1) and currently reside in Mansfield.
“I first want to thank Mr. Masi, Mr. Wade and the Crestline Board of Education for providing me with this opportunity,” King said. “I am extremely excited to join the Bulldog family. I would also like to thank the students, parents, teachers and administrators of Madison for these past seven years. I would not be prepared to take on this position without the opportunities to grow and develop as an educator and a coach afforded to me while at Madison. A part of me will always bleed green. I must also thank Mr. Nickoli and Mr. Parr for providing me with the opportunity to join the Pioneer team as a satellite instructor at Crestline.
:This unique opportunity allows me to be in the building at Crestline, which I believe will be an invaluable asset in building the football program. Throughout my conversations with Mr. Masi and Mr. Wade, I became increasingly convinced that this was the right fit for me. I am looking forward to getting in the school and building relationships with my players. I hope to continue building on the recent work of Coach Sipes and the legacy of Crestline football established by the likes of Coach Dipietro, Jack Harbaugh and many others. It is going to take hard work, but we are going to go about growing the program the right way, developing not only successful football players, but successful young men. With the support of parents and the Crestline community and commitment by our student athletes, I am confident we can build Crestline into a winning program, year in and year out.”
“I would first like to thank our student-athletes at Crestline for their patience as we went through the interview process. We told the players back in November that we were committed to finding the best leader to continue progressing the football program into the future. The entire process of searching for a quality head football coach has taken many hours and a lot of hard work. I would like to personally thank Mr. Jamie Masi and Mr. Kyle Strauch for being part of the interview committee. Both of these gentlemen were extremely committed to helping select the best fit for Crestline High School,” said former AD Mathew Wade.
“We feel incredibly fortunate to welcome Jonathan King as the new head football coach. He comes to Crestline highly recommended by not only many football personnel, but by many educational personnel that he has worked with during his professional career. Of the quality applicants for the position, Coach King stood out during the interview process as the absolute best fit to lead the Crestline football program for years to come. His passion, character, leadership and energy for working with young people make him the perfect fit to be not only the head football coach, but a leader in the school district. It is incredibly exciting that we will have our football coach in the building during the school day, with the opportunity to develop and grow relationships with our student athletes,” finishes the since departed Wade.
