SAN ANTONIO – The Harlan Hawks are preparing for a new season with a familiar face leading the football program.
Matthew McKinney, who served as Harlan’s offensive coordinator beginning in 2017, was promoted to head coach in February.
He takes over a program coming off a strong 2025 campaign, when the Hawks went 8-0 in district play and finished 10-2 overall.
“All the players know him; all the players are used to how he coaches, how he runs things, how he runs practices, weight room, film session. It’s very important, and we’re all very grateful to have our head coach already be in this program,” said Hawks senior quarterback Aiden Pitchford.
McKinney has been a regular presence on the Harlan sideline on Friday nights, helping guide the offense as the Hawks built one of the area’s top programs.
Now, he steps into the head coaching role with the goal of maintaining the team’s consistent approach.
“I interviewed a lot of our players and want to know how they felt about our schemes and how they felt about what we’re doing,” said McKinney. “A unanimous report from all of our players said (they) want to keep our same system.”
Harlan opens its season on the field next Friday when they host East Central. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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