Mike Kirschner graduated from Lawrence Central High School in 1979, and has been coaching football for 43 years. In the 1990s he coached at Lawrence Central
Next fall, he will be coaching the Mt. Vernon football team
For some, that name might trigger a memory of a coach leading the football team to state years ago. He is the coach who brought Mt. Vernon to state and then took a hiatus to return to his home town. He returns to Mt. Vernon with the hopes of leading them another successful season.
The reason Coach Kirschner left Mt. Vernon was because he received a call from his home school Lawrence Central, asking if he would come back. So for five years Coach Kirschner coached Lawrence.
“That’s where I went to school at, and they called five years ago now, and took the chance to go back… Kinda felt like going back home.”
Now Coach Kirschner is excited to join the Mt. Vernon community again.
Coach Kirschner will be working with the offensive line as he is a specialist in this position. Part of how this will be done is that the players are expecting more discipline and a larger focus on the principles of offense.
The special team will also be facing changes, prioritizing physical strength when it comes to training in July. This will be done by convincing the team to apply hard work.
“There is no way around it.¨ Coach Kirschner said. “Never had a team that didn’t work hard.”
Winning is not a priority for Kirschner, the end game for him is to get the players to have playing time and apply their skills to the best of their abilities.