Monett Coach Takes Reins Of Mustangs
Kellen Hoover knows success as a high school football coach.
Hoover has been an assistant coach at Monett since 2012, winning the state title i n 2016 as well as being a three- time state semifinalist.
Hoover was approved as head coach of the McDonald County Mustangs at the Board of Education’s Feb. 8 meeting. He will take over for John Diehl, who resigned in December after the Mustangs went 0-10 in his only year to lead McDonald County.
“I am overwhelmingly excited because at this point I am ready for the increase in responsibility that comes with being a head coach,” Hoover said. “I am ready to see what I can do. I have confidence that I can get it done, but at the same time I want to show that.”
Hoover is a 2007 graduate of El Dorado Springs High School. He graduated from Missouri Southern State University in 2011, where he played baseball for four years.
Hoover did his student teaching at Monett and after he graduated was hired as teacher and coach. He served as quarterback coach for his five years at Monett and as well having experience with the defensive line and running backs.
He understands turning around the Mustangs, 2-28 over the past three years, will be a process, not a quick fix.
“I am not sure you can look at our progression in wins and losses,” Hoover said. “I think you have
to look at it as we get to where start to compete with ourselves — what is the best we can be – what effort am I giving right now — and what is championship effort. Compare that to others and say ‘I need to get better.’ It becomes intrinsic motivation in a way and makes you look inward and you compete there. We will focus a little more on the little things and if you focus on the process of developing the fundamentals and the effort, now when you look on the scoreboard, all of a sudden you are on top.”
Hoover said the number of players the Mustangs had on the team last year is “somewhat of a concern.”
“We are just going to have to — for lack of a better term — get on the recruiting trail in the hallways and develop those relationships with kids,” Hoover said. “Maybe some will say ‘I just want to meet the guy and give it a shot.’ Then all of sudden it becomes how do we mesh and if it’s a good relationship they will stay and if I am not doing a good job with those relationships we will lose some.”
Hoover said that on offense, he will look to run the ball, but you have to be multidimensional these days.
“I learned that especially this past year at Monett,” Hoover said. “We put an emphasis on running the football. I want to run the football. It is demoralizing when the defense knows you are going to run “iso’ and they can’t stop it. That is the most demoralizing thing in football when they know you are going to run the ball right at them and they can’t stop you. I want to have that element as our bread and butter. But at the same time, the game has changed depending on who you are playing. Someone is going to stack 10 in the box and you have to throw it. The time at Monett has shown me you can’t be super conservative all the time. The kids also kind of like it more. In practice the receivers are catching the ball instead of just blocking all the time. The receivers are going to learn to block, but they also are going to have some time to catch the football.”
On defensive, Hoover said, he has had experience with the 4-3 and the “stack.”
“It depends on your personnel, but I lean toward the stack because of the aggressiveness that can come with it,” Hoover said. “You can kind of push the envelope and force the issue a little bit.”
Hoover has been in the district meeting with some of coaches from last year. He said the process of organizing the coaches into their roles for next year will be based on giving the kids the best chance to be successful.
He said from now until the first practice of next season, the players will continue with the current weight program as well as summer workouts and camps.
“The weight program will continue in the summer in the mornings,” Hoover said. “The kids will continue to get stronger and faster. Coach McCullough (Sean McCullough, weight room instructor and coach) is doing an incredible job in the weight room. The kids have bought into his philosophy and I don’t see any reason that would change for the summer. In addition to their weights, we will have contact days where we work on some skills to get better on our fundamentals.”
He said there will two weeks of high school camp and also a week of junior high and youth camp sometime during the summer.
Hoover said he appreciates the opportunity for his first head coaching job.
“I want to thank Nick (Nick Martin, athletic director) for the opportunity to interview and thanks to the school board for accepting me,” Hoover said. “I am excited to fully get to be here. It’s strange for the next few months. I am excited to be thinking of McDonald County, but the same time assisting coaching baseball at Monett.”
Hoover and his wife, Laura, were married in July of last year and have no children. He said the couple plan to move to the area this summer.
“We’re excited to move into the McDonald County area,” Hoover said. “I grew up in a rural area and am excited to get back into a rural area.”