The heir apparent has been chosen as the new head football coach at Yorktown High School.
On Dec. 20, longtime Yorktown assistant coach Alec Hicks, a former player and 1999 graduate of the school, was named to replace Bruce Hanson as the leader of the Patriots’ Arlington program.
Hanson coached Yorktown since the 1985 season, winning 272 games at the school. Overall, he won 302 times as a high-school head coach, the first 30 coming at Wakefield.
Hicks, 43, has been a member of Hanson’s staff for the last 20 seasons, serving as the defensive coordinator in recent years.
An English teacher at Yorktown, Hicks was considered a favorite to replace Hanson. His late father, Lloyd, also was an assistant Yorktown football coach before Hanson took over.
“I am so excited about this,” Hicks told ARLnow. “I went here, I played here and I love the school. I grew up walking the halls of Yorktown with my father around this program, so I knew all of the old coaches. Some were my teachers when I was a student at Yorktown.”
Mike Krulfeld is Yorktown’s director of student activities and was in charge of the process to replace Hanson.
“It was a pretty definitive decision,” Krulfeld said of choosing Hicks. “He provides a leadership vision looking forward for the entire program to build and add on to what Bruce established, and he wants to usher in new opportunities. Alec has some really great ideas and he is ready.”
As a player at Yorktown, Hicks was an all-district linebacker. He also was a goalie on the boys soccer team during the spring season.
Hicks began his football coaching career as a Yorktown assistant coach when he took a year off from attending Randolph-Macon College, where he played for the Division III school’s football team.
Hicks said he learned during that season from Hanson how much he wanted to remain a high-school football coach and become a classroom teacher, as well. So he returned to Randolph-Macon to get his degree, graduating in 2004.
As the new head coach, Hicks said a big focus will be on the culture and team-building, getting his players in tip-top cardiovascular conditions, making a strong emphasis on special-teams play, and having innovative offensive and defensive schemes.
He also wants to keep as many of Hanson’s other assistant coaches as possible. Hicks invites former Yorktown players interested in coaching or being involved in the program to contact him.
“I was a member of this team with Bruce for his 100th, 200th, 250th and 300th wins. So we want to keep this going and win championships,” Hicks said.
Hicks coached the junior-varsity and defensive line and special teams on varsity in other positions as a Yorktown assistant.
Hanson was happy with the succession plan.
“Hicks will be a great head coach,” Hanson told ARLnow. “He worked his way up and he is a smart football guy. He is very good about putting everybody, players and coaches, in the right place.”
Hicks will meet with the Yorktown players next month to discuss the program and expectations. He also will begin work finalizing his coaching staff.
One assistant who will not return is Joe McBride, also a former Yorktown player. McBride recently was named the new head football coach at Woodson High School in Fairfax.
