On Friday, Dec. 5, longtime head football coach and athletic director, Brandon Krauskopf, announced his resignation from the role to take an “opportunity outside of education.” The hiring process is currently underway, with a hope to fill the position by the middle of February.

Krauskopf has been a coach at Glenn since its opening 10 years ago. 

“Coach Kraus loves Glenn and he loves the kids,” principal Josh Haug said. “He has a big heart and the tougher the situation that a kid has gone through the more he’s going to love on them and protect them and support them in whatever they’re doing. So he was a big part in helping me transition in this role and welcoming me into it.”

Krauskopf’s decision is centered around his family. After a conversation with his oldest daughter he decided it would be best to step away from coaching in order to spend more time with them.

“It was always in my brain that when my kids got to high school I would get out so I can watch them go through high school and watch their games and everything else like that,” Krauskopf said. “It really came through when my daughter, early in the season, was having a tough day and I was having a conversation with her and realized I hadn’t had that many life conversations with her. And she finally had bravery enough to tell me what the family felt about me being gone and how she felt about me being gone.”

As one of the longest employed staff members on campus, Krauskopf has had the opportunity to build deep relationships and a culture at Glenn.

“What I’m most proud about is how many people have come back and thanked our coaches for the stuff that they learned,” Krauslopf said. “Because if you’re religious or anything else like that, God doesn’t expect us to change people’s hearts. That’s his job. Our job is to plant the seeds so he can do his work.”

Alumni have even called in with encouragement for Krauskopf and his decision.

“One of the best people that ever walked to this campus was a guy named Noah Holmes,” Krauskopf said. “He was a superstar in football and basketball. He was part of the first graduating class. He called me out of the blue and I kind of told him about [the decision]. But when I told him, he goes, ‘That’s the greatest gift that you can give your family.’ He goes, ‘Cause you instilled that in us. And you would regret it if you didn’t do the things that you told us.’ And I was like, okay, see, these are the conversations that God has given us.”

While the hiring of the next coach is highly anticipated, the rest of the coaching staff at Glenn has been working to make up for being short one coach for the time being. No interim has been appointed, so duties have fallen to the assistant athletics coordinator, Alberto Guzman, and other assistant coaches, such as Ryan Killian.

“It’s just new leadership opportunities when things like this happen,” Killian said. “We just, basically keeping everything, humming along and all the athletic periods. You know, I’m a football coach and a soccer coach, so we’re taking care of our kids, making sure that they know what’s expected of them. If it’s an off season, if it’s in season, we just keep them focused. And so we’re all doing our jobs.”

To give parents and students the opportunity for athletes to share their thoughts through the hiring process, a survey has been sent out to all those involved in the athletics program. This form allows them to describe what qualities they want to see in the next athletic coordinator. 

“They cannot be a transactional coach,” Krauskopf said. “And when we talk about that, it’s the idea that if I give something you give something, no, you got to be a transformational coach. Like, you got to come in and help these young people who are going through things and a very fragile part of their lives and help them get to the other side.” 

While the Glenn athletics department is changing rapidly, Haug is optimistic about the future of the athletic program.

“The best is yet to come,” Haug said. “We have accomplished so many things in lots of different sports, but I think that we have even more potential to do more things. Yes to win more games and more championships and gold balls, as we called them, that we get in the playoffs, but also just to increase the pride in this school.”