Montague High School announced Wednesday that it has hired Phil Koops, most recently Hamilton's head football coach, to the same position at Montague.
Koops will take over from Justin Dennett, who recently resigned after four seasons and accepted the head coach job at Kelloggsville.
Koops has spent the past six seasons as head coach at Division 4 Hamilton, his alma mater, and led the Hawkeyes to their first playoff berth (outside of the all-in 2020 season) since 2016 a season ago. The team went 5-4 in the regular season, and Koops was named regional coach of the year by the state coaches' association.
Prior to his head coach tenure, Koops was offensive line coach at Hamilton in 2017 and offensive coordinator in 2018. He was an assistant coach at Plymouth (Ind.) High School from 2012-16. Koops played for the Hawkeyes as a student and later played center for Division III Olivet College, for which he won an MIAA championship in his junior season of 2007.
In its press release announcing the hire, Montague also expressed excitement at Koops' versatility both as a coach - he's also been involved in coaching wrestling and track - and as a teacher, where he's taught biology, history and anatomy in addition to strength and conditioning.
"The
experience, leadership, and passion for developing all student-athletes
make him the perfect fit for this role," Montague athletic director Jay Mulder said of Koops in the release. "We are confident that under his
guidance, the Montague football program will continue to grow and
achieve great success in the years to come."
