Coach ,

Good programs are year-round programs, and that’s part of what has brought Southeast Polk an Iowa 5A state championship in 2021.

However, Coach Zelenovich does not want that to be at the expense of other athletic programs in his school. He encourages kids to play multiple sports at a high level. While he does have an Arkansas recruit at QB and two other five-star athletes on his team, he does isolate them to only be developed in the football program.

He sees the high school student-athlete as one that should be, playing multiple sports, having a job, and just being a kid. It’s proven to be a winning formula. Coach Zelenovich shares an overview of the philosophy here:

Video: Southeast Polk Program Philosophy

It all starts with a vision and Coach Zelenovich makes how he shares it clear and concise. For him football is simply an extension of the classroom:

Vision Statement

Taking a program to this point in today’s day and age of personal trainers and an AAU type of environment that is more and more creeping into the football world certainly is a threat to allowing kids to be kids. To bring his program to this point it all started with identifying the problems, which he does in this video:

Identifying the Issues

The Southeast Polk athletic model is to develop and retain their players while allowing them to do other activities. To make it happen they build a strong culture and buy-in. A huge tool for this is how they utilize the school day to develop their athletes in an athletic period.

It’s refreshing to hear that you can build a winning program and win a state championship while still allowing your players to pursue their other interests. Keeping the players' needs at the core allows the program to best serve all involved.

Here are Iowa’s other state champions:

8-man: Cam Cougars, Head Coach Barry Bower

A: West Hancock Eagles, Head Coach Mark Sanger

1A: Van Meter Bulldogs, Head Coach Eric Trudo

2A: Southeast Valley Jaguars, Head Coach Mike Swieter 

3A: Harlan Cyclones , Head Coach Todd Bladt

4A: Lewis Central Titans, Head Coach Justin Kammrad

5A: Southeast Polk Rams, Head Coach Brad Zelenovich

Hopefully, these videos from Coach Zelenovich’s clinic gave you some ideas to improve your program and work toward a state title of your own in 2022.

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski