(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
Manual stayed within its program to hire its next football coach.
The Thunderbolts announced this week that Benjamin Butler has been hired to head the school’s program. He has been with the program for seven seasons, including the past five as defensive coordinator.
“It is with excitement and a tremendous sense of duty that I step into this role,” Butler said in a statement. “I am excited to guide the Manual football team to new heights while continuing to allow for the personal, academic and leadership growth of our student athletes, and for all of us to step into our greatness.”
Butler is a teacher at the school, as well.
Benjamin Butler. (Courtesy of Manual HS)
“We could not be more excited to start this next and new chapter in our football program,” principal Nickolas Dawkins and athletic director Doug Clinkscales said in a joint statement. “We know this is a first and bold step into ensuring each of our scholar football athletes step into their greatness!”
Manual began to search to replace Dean Huffman in October. Huffman coached the Thunderbolts for three seasons, going 14-13 since 2014 — a great stretch for the program which was 9-59 from 2005-13.
In a statement about the hiring process, the school wrote, in part:
Our athletics programming takes pride in developing youth who focus on fundamental skills development, as well as helping them develop socially in the areas of discipline, patience, respect, resilience, determination and teamwork. We would not be able to accomplish this without the help of great coaches who model these values and expectations as well as spend countless hours with our students helping them progress. We are so excited to announce that after a lengthy and rigorous interview and examination process we have selected our own Benjamin Butler as the next Head Football Coach for Manual High School.
Manual, which competes in Class 1A, went 5-4 last season.
Follow all of this offseason’s movement in our coaching changes tracker.