The LHS football team’s season came to an unexpected end a few weeks ago, and while they may not have brought home the state championship, the subsequent awards have maintained the excellence demonstrated by an impressive 8-2 season. 

Coach Jared Fredenburg is the recipient of the South Dakota Coaches Association Region 5 Coach of the Year award. And while a lot of the football team’s success can be contributed to the new seniors, Fredenburg successfully turned them around after an indelible 2-8 season. Along with the season record turnaround, his athletes speak very highly of his commitment to building their character.
“I think he is very deserving of coach of the year because he does a good job of making us good people, not just good players. He understands that football isn’t everything and that having better character is very important,” said Isaac Sarbacker, a varsity football player. “He is also very knowledgeable about football and each position.”

Contrary to previous seasons, our LHS football team has been very dominant, often winning games by double digits. What has changed since then that contributed to this improvement? A very crucial and overlooked aspect that controls a teams success is coaching style. 

“Fredenburg treats us like people on the field. He is very receptive to our ideas and opinions in certain situations and really just talks to us,” said Sarbacker.

Often times, players have just as good of an outlook on a situation as a coach, and for a coach to be open-minded and work with their athletes is a really good quality. It is likely that Fredenburg’s coaching style has facilitated Lincoln’s recent success in football, as seven of his players have also received 2019 Metro Athletic Conference All-Conference Football First-Team nominations.

“My favorite saying from [Fredenburg] is ‘good talk’,” said Sarbacker.

This demonstrates the value Fredenburg places on communication with his athletes. All of Fredenburg’s attributes make him a very deserving recipient of the Coach of the Year award.