Lincoln High will announce Jon Kitna today as the Abes’ head football coach.
Kitna, a Lincoln graduate, will be introduced at a news conference at 1 p.m. in the school’s library.
Kitna, who retired this month after a 15-year career as an NFL quarterback, returned to Lincoln earlier this week as a part-time math teacher. Kitna graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in math education. Kitna has been open about his desire to lead a high school football team.
“My wife and I always felt like these years in the NFL have prepared us for what our real calling in life is going to be as teachers and running a high school football program,” Kitna told The News Tribune in December.
Kitna was a three-sport athlete at Lincoln, playing football, basketball and baseball. He went on to lead CWU to a share of the NAIA national title in 1995. His NFL career began when he made the Seattle Seahawks in 1997. He spent four seasons with Seattle and also played in Cincinnati, Detroit and Dallas.
Patrick Erwin, co-principal at Lincoln, and Jennifer Kubista, director of student life for the school district, will also be in attendance.
Former coach Mike Merrill resigned after leading Lincoln to the postseason for the first time since 2006. Merrill will become the school’s athletic director in February.
LUTTON REINSTATED
Howard Lutton will roam the sideline as Franklin Pierce High’s head football coach for at least one more season.
Three weeks after being fired from his coaching position, Lutton was reinstated on Wednesday.
“I’m excited to get back on the field next season,” said Lutton, who has been at Franklin Pierce for 34 years and has been head coach for 24 seasons.
Lutton appealed his termination to Franklin Pierce School District superintendent Frank Hewins on Monday, meeting for almost two hours. Hewins called Lutton back on Wednesday, surprising him.
“I wasn’t expecting anything until Friday,” Lutton said. “He congratulated me and we went through the concerns and (I) said they were very easily correctable.”
Lutton expressed thanks to many in the community for what he called an overwhelming show of support over the past few weeks.
“There was quite an upwelling of support,” he said. “I received a lot of emails of support and some (of) that stuff was really amazing to me. I got choked up and emotional.”
Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271 doug.pacey@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/preps Twitter: DougPaceyTNT
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.