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Zimmerman staying at Liberty
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@acnpapers.com
Contrary to various reports, Frisco Liberty head coach Galen Zimmerman will not be leaving the Redhawks football program.
Zimmerman, who contemplated being the offensive coordinator under Coppell head coach Joe McBride, has decided to stay with the Redhawks.
“It was two great situations,” Zimmerman said. “But I just had peace about staying here at Liberty.”
Zimmerman and McBride worked as assistants at Hebron before joining the same staff at Liberty with McBride becoming the first-ever head coach at the school and Zimmerman working as a coordinator. That was one reason a change became possible for Zimmerman.
"It was attractive," said David Kuykendall, Frisco ISD athletic director. "Coppell is a good school over there and will be in the hunt year in and year out."
The upcoming season will be the fourth for Zimmerman as head coach at Liberty. In his three years at the school, the Redhawks have gone 25-12 and reached the postseason in all three years.
At least one published report stated Zimmerman had accepted an offer from Coppell and had already left Liberty. However, Zimmerman only gave a verbal commmitment to leave before deciding to stay in Frisco with the Redhawks.
"I think it was kind of one of those don't know what you've got until it's gone kind of things," Kuykendall said. "I think he realized he has a good job here and he was technically still the coach at Liberty."
Because of Zimmerman's verbal commitment to leave Liberty, measures were taken to find Zimmerman's replacement, Kuykendall said.
"We were just being proactive to get the interview process going," he said.
The decision to stay comes after a season in which the Redhawks went 6-5 and lost to Highland Park in the opening round of the playoffs. The 50-7 loss to the Scots marked the earliest departure in Zimmerman’s three seasons at Liberty. The Redhawks reached the regional round in 2009 and 2010 behind standout running back Jay Ajayi, who is now at Boise State.
“At the end of the day, I had peace about staying at Liberty,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve been blessed. Whatever I do, I’ll be at peace with it and Liberty is where I felt most at peace.”
Zimmerman and Kuykendall said there is no plan for any changes to the current coaching staff and that all coaches are in place as of now.
"Everything has worked out quite well for everybody," Kuykendall said. "I think everybody is happy he's staying."
Meanwhile, the decision to remain at Liberty should give Zimmerman and the Redhawks time to build off last season’s short playoff run.
“We’ve got great kids here,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have a great staff and our kids are working hard. We’ve been open a short time, but the kids have established a good standard here already.”
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