Sandhills and Thedford schools have announced that Gage Haake will take over head coaching duties for the Sandhills/Thedford sports co-op football program for the upcoming 2026 season. Haake will take over for Tyson Cox who led the Knights to a football state championship in 2023. This will be the first head coaching job for Haake. Haake visited with KCNI/KBBN sports and shared how this all came about.
“Oh, well, I guess it kind of was put in motion when I graduated from college about three years ago now and I decided I wanted to go somewhere else and get my feet wet. So if I did ever come back, I’d be better prepared. I took a job at Merna, which ended up being a great experience and I thank those guys for that time there. I learned a lot from those guys. And then this last year, Tyson (Cox) called me and said he’s letting me know that it was going to be his last year doing it. And so I applied for a teaching job first at Thedford and then the head coach job and then it just kind of fell into place from there. So it worked out really good.”
It’s a homecoming for Haake who played for Sandhills/Thedford and is a 2019 graduate of Thedford High School. Haake shared what it means to him to become the coach of the team he played for.
“I take a lot of pride in that. Never when I was in high school did I think one time I’d end up coming back and being the head football coach. I just didn’t ever think that was in the cards, but I feel blessed and I am super excited to be back there. And I take a huge amount of pride in being a Knight and I hope I can instill that in the boys that are there now.”
Haake played college football for Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa. While there, Haake was a part of two NAIA national championship teams. He shared what he took from that experience which helped prepare him for this opportunity.
“Yeah, so I had the opportunity to go and win two national championships while I was there and that was a lot of fun. The main thing I really took away from my college experience was how to carry yourself like a champion at all times. And that’s not just on the football field. That’s in the community when you’re out in it, in the classroom, in your future job and how to carry yourself as a man of integrity. Take ownership for what you’ve done and then you can learn from those experiences. So I think those are the two main things I took from that experience. I enjoyed that a lot.”
The Nebraska School Activities Association will soon be releasing the schedules for all high school football teams for the upcoming season. Sandhills/Thedford will compete in the D3-6 district this season with Anselmo-Merna, Brady, Maxwell, Mullen, and Sandhills Valley.
Listen to our full interview with Coach Haake
