'Parkie' headed to coaches Hall
Iowa football coaches to honor longtime A-W mentor
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Craig Parkinson, whose teams won 175 games during a 33-year high school coaching career, will be inducted into the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
Most of those victories (141) came at Akron-Westfield High School, where he coached undefeated regular-season squads in 1988, '90 and 2002. His 2002 team captured the Iowa Class 1A state championship with a 13-0 record.
Known as an innovator who always had a trick or two up his sleeve, the Spencer, Iowa, native and Dana College graduate began his coaching career at West Harrison High School, posting a 15-12 mark in three seasons. "Parkie" guided Akron squads to a 19-14 record and
Nine of Parkinson's teams were either conference or district champions and he coached five playoff teams, finishing with a 7-4 career post-season mark.
Parkinson, the 1989 Sioux City Journal Coach of the Year, was named Iowa Class 1A Coach of the Year after the glorious state championship season in 2002.
"Actually, we didn't run that many tricks, but with that reputation, opposing coaches wasted a lot of time preparing for them," said Parkinson. "It made our practices more fun for our players."
Parkinson will be among a group of coaches honored at halftime of the Class 4A state championship game on Nov. 16 at the UNI-Dome.
Craig, a recent nominee of Who's Who of America's Teachers, retired from teaching after the 2005-06 school year. He and his wife, Mary, a nurse at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, reside in Sioux City.
Their oldest son Mike, the quarterback on the 2002 Akron-Westfield state championship team, is student teaching at East High and is a member of the Bishop Heelan varsity coaching staff. Andrea, a junior at Briar Cliff University, is the catcher on the Chargers' softball team while son David and daughter Sarah are students at Bishop Heelan.
Most of those victories (141) came at Akron-Westfield High School, where he coached undefeated regular-season squads in 1988, '90 and 2002. His 2002 team captured the Iowa Class 1A state championship with a 13-0 record.
Known as an innovator who always had a trick or two up his sleeve, the Spencer, Iowa, native and Dana College graduate began his coaching career at West Harrison High School, posting a 15-12 mark in three seasons. "Parkie" guided Akron squads to a 19-14 record and
Nine of Parkinson's teams were either conference or district champions and he coached five playoff teams, finishing with a 7-4 career post-season mark.
Parkinson, the 1989 Sioux City Journal Coach of the Year, was named Iowa Class 1A Coach of the Year after the glorious state championship season in 2002.
"Actually, we didn't run that many tricks, but with that reputation, opposing coaches wasted a lot of time preparing for them," said Parkinson. "It made our practices more fun for our players."
Parkinson will be among a group of coaches honored at halftime of the Class 4A state championship game on Nov. 16 at the UNI-Dome.
Craig, a recent nominee of Who's Who of America's Teachers, retired from teaching after the 2005-06 school year. He and his wife, Mary, a nurse at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, reside in Sioux City.
Their oldest son Mike, the quarterback on the 2002 Akron-Westfield state championship team, is student teaching at East High and is a member of the Bishop Heelan varsity coaching staff. Andrea, a junior at Briar Cliff University, is the catcher on the Chargers' softball team while son David and daughter Sarah are students at Bishop Heelan.
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jam wrote on Oct 17, 2007 8:30 AM: