“I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WE ARE KANSAS CITY’S HOMETOWN COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM.”
Avila football introduced Ed Warinner as the program’s new head football coach on Tuesday afternoon in front of the Warinner family, local media, fellow coaches, students and Avila faculty.
Dr. Andy Jett, Athletic Director Shawn Summe and Warinner spoke for nearly 30 minutes in the Whitfield Conference Center about the direction the program was headed, Warinner’s experience and what the Avila community can expect from the Eagle football program.
Below are highlights from the press conference:
Dr. Andy Jett, Avila President: “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter here for Avila University football. One filled with promise, energy and a renewed commitment to the values that make us who we are and make this a special place for everyone.”
“Coach Warinner brings a wealth of experience and more than 40 years coaching at the highest levels of college football – programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan and the University of Kansas. Beyond his impressive resume and championships, what stands out for me is he has a heart for student-athletes and creating whole persons and opportunities for students to better themselves.”
“His leadership will help elevate our program, strengthen our student experience and deepen our connections across Kansas City.”
Shawn Summe, Avila Director of Athletics: “On top of the on-field results, the more conversations I had with Ed, I really started to understand his passion for helping the young men he worked with become better – not only as football players – but as students and citizens.”
Ed Warinner, Avila Head Football Coach: “Our foundation is going to be based on these four principles: faith, family, football and fun. I added fun because we need to redefine to the youth of America what ‘fun’ is. Fun is working hard to achieve your goals. Fun is working together to accomplish things, fun is helping somebody be their best. Fun is supporting somebody who’s had a bad day and helping them get back up on their feet. … in the end, if you do things right and the process is solid, then the fun comes in the results.”
“I want to make it clear that we’re Kansas City’s hometown college football team. We have a Kansas City zip code and we’re the only college football team in Kansas City. There are a lot of them around us that we’re going to have to work our butts off to get ahead of them, but we want to be Kansas City’s hometown football team. We want everybody in the community and at Avila to be proud of what we do.”
“I do want to say congratulations, we had three state championship teams in the local area. Lee’s Summit, Platte County and Kearney – all three won state titles. Not to overlook the fact that Basehor, Olathe Northwest and Bishop Miege all got to the state finals. There is some great high school talent here, there is great high school coaching here and I’m excited to be a part of the Kansas City High School Coaches Association and to attend those meetings, get to know those guys and go watch these guys play.”
“I want us to be a first-class operation from the time we walk out on the field. We want to dress like a first-class organization.”
To watch the full press conference, click here.
To read more on Ed Warinner, click here.
(photo credit: George Williams)
