Morrison hires alum Nathan Vandermyde as next football coach

MORRISON – Nathan Vandermyde used to lead the Morrison Mustangs on the football field as their starting quarterback in 2006 and 2007. Now, he’ll lead them from the sideline as head coach.

The Morrison High School math teacher and longtime assistant coach steps in for Steve Snider, who left for the head coaching job at Arcola High School earlier this year. It will be Vandermyde’s first varsity head coaching job.

“I’m really excited about it. This is something I’ve always considered. I’ve always had a love for the game, a love for football, so it’s very exciting to be taking over the program and making it my own,” Vandermyde said.

“Being a head coach is something that’s always been on my radar; it just needed to be the right time and right place. It’s something that needed to be right for my family.”

During his two-year run as Morrison’s starting quarterback, Vandermyde helped lay the foundation for a powerhouse program. In 2006, his Mustangs reached the Class 2A state semifinals. In 2007, they reached the quarterfinals. Morrison went on to win state titles in 2009 and 2011.

Vandermyde’s coaching career began, in earnest, as a volunteer assistant at Morrison after he graduated college. After one year at his alma mater, he moved on to Fulton High School, where he spent four years as an assistant and freshman football coach. He then returned to Morrison, serving as an assistant coach between 2017-2022, with a year off in the middle.

Last year, the Mustangs were a playoff team with a 5-5 record. The year before, they went 1-7.

That improvement is something Vandermyde hopes to continue.

“I like where the program is headed, a little bit of a rebound year going from 1-7 to 5-5. One of the things, a message to the kids is, ‘5-5 is great, we got into the playoffs, but that was last year,’ ” Vandermyde said. “This year, we have a good number of kids coming back, but we haven’t proven anything yet. We had some leaders last year, and I feel like going into a new year, we still have something to prove. We still have a chip on our shoulder, and we can work our way up from there.”

As summer workouts begin for high school football teams around Illinois, Vandermyde is formulating his initial goals for the program. One of his most important objectives every year is teaching the players how to be upstanding young men.

“For me, I’m big on getting boys to men, teaching more values and creating productive members of society. Wins are great, losses obviously stink, but at the end of the day, if we’re producing good members of the community, people that somebody can rely on, I think that holds a lot of value for the rest of their lives,” Vandermyde said. “Athletically, obviously, I want to make it into the playoffs, get that on a consistent basis, and be in contention for a conference championship and work our way up to a state championship. I feel like that’s always the goal for a program that’s a great model of success.”

On offense, ball security and keeping the defense guessing will be points of emphasis under Vandermyde. On defense, creating takeaways will be the primary focus.

“Offensively, I like making the defense play every aspect of the field, whether it is inside or sideline to sideline. Making the defense think and be prepared for essentially everything,” Vandermyde said. “Defensively, I want a tenacity to get the ball back. Get an interception, strip the ball, force a fumble. Just an overall mindset of getting the ball, and hanging on to the ball.”