CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Kirkwood High School introduced their new baseball, soccer and softball coaches during a meet and greet at their middle school on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Kirkwood introduced Chad Watson as their first-ever head football coach in December and now the rest of their athletic programs have begun to take shape.

The CMCSS member school recognized Rick Yauger as their new baseball coach, Kelley Guth as their boys’ and girls’ soccer coach, and Keli Jo Storz as their softball coach.

Each candidate was selected after an extensive head coaching search.

Kirkwood baseball

Yauger comes to Kirkwood after serving as the head coach for Rossview’s middle school baseball team.

He played a large part in the development of the middle school program and their players.

According to Kirkwood High Principal Jesscia Peppard, Yauger also served as the head baseball coach at Champion High School in Warren, Ohio.

He was the head coach from 2015 to 2021. During his time at Champion High, he accumulated a record of 104-23, which includes winning the programs first ever state championship during the 2017 season.

Yauger was voted as county coach of the year six times, and he was voted as Northeast Ohio coach of the year following his team’s state championship run.

Coaches corner

“It’s very humbling,” said Yauger. “I left a very good program up north after a lot of thoughtfulness. It wasn’t easy to walk away from the well-respected program we established. My faith played a big part in this process.

“I knew if I came down here and it was my path to get a chance to be involved again, then I’d lucky enough to get an amazing opportunity. You know what they say about luck; it’s the corner of opportunity and preparedness. So, the last ten years have prepared me for this and I’m very humble and grateful for it,” said Yauger. “I plan to build our foundation through culture. It has to be bought in by your coaches first of all, but then you have to have your players buy in as well. Your culture doesn’t get established until your players truly buy in, because they’re the ones leading the culture.”

“Culture does have to be built on principle. There have to be some pillars such as be competitive, be on time, be in the proper uniform and you have to control the things you can control. Those would be attitude and effort. If you come out and you give me your attitude and effort while putting the work in, you’re going to get better. To get the best out of your players, you have to get to know the individual. Every kid is an individual, so building those relationships is what helps you establish culture too.”

Kirkwood Soccer

Guth has been put in charge of building the Kirkwood boys’ and girls’ soccer programs from the ground up for the 2023-24 season.

According to Kirkwood High Principal Jesscia Peppard, she has been serving in a multitude of positions for the Clarksville Soccer Club since the beginning of last year.

Her positions included the following: Director of Coaching-Academy Programs, Player Development. Program Director, Facility Coordinator, Tournament Director and Director of Community Engagement.

Before her time at Clarksville Soccer Club, Guth served as the first-ever head women’s soccer coach for Austin Peay State University. She coached for 16 years while with APSU.

Guth initially got into coaching following her playing career at Florida State University, where she was brought onto the FSU staff as a graduate assistant.

Coaches corner

“I think when the word got out that there was going to be a new high school in Clarksville, something resonated within me,” said Guth. “When I left college athletics, it was a grind and I got to a point in my coaching career where I wanted to spend time with my family.

“I wanted to slow down, but I’ve been out of it now for five years, which has gone by very quickly. So, when the word got out there was this new school, something kept coming back to me and I thought it would be neat to start a program once again and get a second opportunity to build something from the ground up like I did at Austin Peay. It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to do so here and get back at it. I missed the grind, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Guth.

“Developing relationships with student-athletes is the key to building a foundation. Especially when we have a process, we know that’ll take some time to get where we want to be. It won’t happen overnight, so developing trust and getting to know student-athletes is really important. Then, you have to have them buy in during that process. You want to collaborate with them, so they have a voice with the direction of the program. Their input is something that I value and something I can utilize to get the program where we want to be.”

Kirkwood Softball

The third coach Kirkwood announced the hire of was Storz, who will be leading the school’s softball team.

According to Kirkwood High Principal Jesscia Peppard, Storz has been working as the physical education teacher at Kirkwood Middle School since the 2022 school year.

She has coached softball for over 20 years, both at high school and collegiate levels.

At the collegiate level, Storz served as an assistant for programs such as Elon University and her alma mater, University of West Alabama.

Stortz played for West Alabama’s softball team, and that’s where she cemented her name in the university’s record books. She finished her playing career with the most games played in program history, most at-bats, ranked 2nd in career runs and 3rd in career doubles.

At the high school level, she spent time as head coach at West Creek High School and Sumter Academy High School.

Coaches corner

“Before I even applied for this coaching position, I walked into my daughter’s room and asked her if she was okay with it,” said Storz. “Because at the end of the day, I’ll be the only softball coach she’s ever had. And accepting this job would mean she wouldn’t get to experience other great coaches.

“When she didn’t hesitate and said yes, I knew it was the right opportunity. Neither one of my parents got a chance to coach because they worked so much. To have this opportunity and to spend it with her, and watch her and other student-athletes grow, before and after her, that was my driving force. It’s a special opportunity that not many people in this world get. So, when it was presented to me, I was very grateful to take it,” said Storz.

“The best teams are player led. If you want to have a player led team, they don’t always join your team with that, sometimes you have to teach them how to do that. As a coach, what you allow you promote. So, setting those standards from day one, so they understand where you and your coaches stand. You’ll be able to tell the kids who have natural born leadership ability. Getting those kids to buy in first helps promote a student led team.”