Coaching legend in the making
Randy Dreiling has coached football teams at Hutchinson, Aquinas for 27 years
Randy Dreiling is a Kansas coaching legend and a sure-fire Kansas Hall of Fame coach — the credentials include 252 wins in 27 years with nine state championships.
Dreiling spent 17 seasons at Hutchinson High School, notching 160 wins, 13 playoff berths and nine trips to a state championship game.
Dreiling’s Hutchinson High School teams won seven state titles (6A titles in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 5A titles in 2008, 2009 and 2011).
Dreiling has won two state titles at St. Thomas Aquinas High School (5A in 2018 and 4A in 2023) in Overland Park, where he has been the head coach since 2014. The Saints also have been state runners-up twice.
In 10 seasons as the Aquinas coach, Dreiling has a 92-28 record, including six 10-win-plus seasons, including a 10-3 record in 2023. Dreiling was named the 2023 Sports in Kansas Class 4A Coach of the Year.
Aquinas captured the 2023 4A state title with a 35-7 victory over Andover Central on Nov. 25.
“We got through a lot of injuries,” Dreiling said. “Two of our offensive linemen broke their arms. We were ahead of Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo., powerhouse) 28-0 (lost 45-44) when two of our running backs were injured. The two linemen and one of the running backs came back and we had enough to beat Bishop Miege (14-7 in the second round). It was not a breeze-through season.”
In the first round of the 4A state playoffs, Aquinas defeated Fort Scott 41-14. Aquinas defeated Bishop Miege in the second round 14-7 (the Saints lost to Miege 19-7 in Week 5 of the season), Basehor-Linwood 38-7 in the quarterfinals (sectionals) and Tonganoxie 42-14 in the semifinals (sub-state round).
Dreiling said 2024 will be a rebuilding and reloading year for the Saints.
“We lost a really good senior class,” Dreiling said. “We will just reload and see what happens. We’re moving back to Class 5A where we belong.”
Before Dreiling took over the Hutchinson High School program in 1997, the Salthawks had lost 26 games in a row. Dreiling came to Hutchinson from Salina South, where he was the defensive coordinator for three seasons.
In a sign that Dreiling and his coaching staff meant business, the Salthawks won the first game of the 1997 season.
“We want to hang our hats on the weight room,” Dreiling said. “The kids had no reason to believe in me. In Year 2, we made it mandatory for the kids to be in the weight room. After that, they saw we were serious, they (the kids) bought in.”
The Salthawks reached the Kansas Class 6A state championship game in 2003 and lost to Olathe North 28-13. Dreiling said expectations were high for the program within the program and the city of Hutchinson.
Dreiling said he remembers a photo in a newspaper of his son Grant (the quarterback) being lifted on the shoulders of teammates after the Salthawks won the state championship in 2007 with a win over Olathe South.
“The look on his face was more like relief,” Randy Dreiling said.
“This is what should be,” Dreiling added. “Everybody knew what we were doing it for. I was in a Home Depot in August and someone asked who we were going to play in the state title game.”
In 2012, Hutchinson lost to Shawnee Mission West in the 6A state championship. In 2013, Hutchinson finished the season with a 5-4 record.
“In 2013, we had a lot of injuries and we played three quarterbacks,” Dreiling said. “We lost our first district game.”
After the 2013, season Dreiling first learned of the opportunity at Aquinas, a private Roman Catholic high school in Overland Park.
“I got a call from Aquinas about the job,” Dreiling said. “I was not interviewing for a job. The timing was good. I had a daughter up there (in the Kansas City area). I was sick for three weeks agonizing over the decision.”
Dreiling said he talked it over with his wife Stef.
“I told her it was time,” Dreiling said. “We’re going to go. It’s time to go.”
Dreiling said he and his wife loved their time in Hutchinson.
“I want to thank everyone in Hutchinson that supported me and my family and our Salthawk football program,” Dreiling said. “The things we accomplished were amazing and we could not have done without total buy-in — community, administration, players, coaches and managers.”
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