NEXTGEN Coaches

Former software developer Keith Riggs found his true love in coaching football. Then his data wizardry moved a legendary Oklahoma high school program ahead of the curve, from powerhouse into nationally-revered empire.

What better time for the preeminent juggernaut in South Carolina to shake up how they do things than after one of the most dominant seasons in state history …right?

From MIT to Halliburton to the Las Vegas Strip, everyone’s dying to get inside the mind of Kevin Kelley. His devotion to analytics and fabled never-punt, always-onside ethos has made him one of football’s most captivating idea men.

Few teams in the country play at such a frenetic pace, put up such flammable offensive numbers, or have as much fun as this wildly-successful Central Illinois program. Led by Derek Leonard, this team has been ahead of the curve on nearly everything the modern game now takes for granted.

Every offseason, countless high school coaches make the leap to college, or even NFL, staffs. Why are they such attractive additions? A peek at what the University of Arizona’s new, tech-minded offensive analyst John Marinelli built at a southern Connecticut high school lends some insight.

Freezy Smalls’ infectious personality and unique (and elaborate) approach to game-day analysis has helped galvanize Pinecrest High School from also-ran to lead dog in North Carolina’s football hierarchy.

Banker by day, assistant football coach by afternoon, Jeremy Fisher first built his complex analytics database for this small Northern Kentucky program nearly two decades ago. And that intense dedication to data has had three-time defending state champ Beechwood punching above its weight class ever since.