Vote: Who is the 2025 Iowa High School Football Class 4A/3A Preseason Coach of the Year?

Here are six nominations for the 2025 Iowa High School Football Class 4A/3A Preseason Coach of the Year for your voting consideration

Cedar Rapids Xavier head coach Duane Schulte talks with players after a week one varsity high school football game, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, at Saints Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Camps across Iowa are popping up, as the high school football season kicks off. Just a handful of weeks remain until we are under the Friday Night Lights.

With that, High School On SI Iowa is looking to hand out preseason awards, starting with the top coaches in each classification of Iowa high school football.

Preseason coach of the year and player of the year polls will be featured.

Voting will end on Sunday, August 24 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

Here are the nominations for the Class 4A/3A Iowa Preseason Coach of the Year in 2025:

Derrick Elman, Humboldt

Since his arrival in Wildcat country, the Humboldt program has reached the championship game once and the semifinals twice in Class 3A under Derrick Elman. A long-time assistant at Iowa Falls-Alden before replacing hall of famer Greg Thomas at Humboldt, Elman owns 48 wins overall with three seasons of 10-plus victories.

Jay McKinstrey, Pella

A legend with the Dutch, Jay McKinstrey has spent his entire career leading Pella. He has over 200 career wins and directed the program to three consecutive state football championships from 2014-16.

Duane Schulte, Cedar Rapids Xavier

Over 30 years on the sidelines has led to 200-plus victories and four state football championships for Duane Schulte, as he has helped the Saints become one of the more consistent programs in the state.

Justin Smith, Sergeant Bluff-Luton

Since 2015, Justin Smith has led Sergeant Bluff-Luton to five seasons with at least 10 victories, including an 11-1 mark last year. The program has also experienced just two losing seasons during that time under Smith.

Jim Tighe, Spencer

The son of coaching legend Dick Tighe, Jim Tighe has built his own factory up at Spencer. The Tigers have had nine seasons finishing at .500 or better over the last 10 years under Tighe, who has led them for the past two-plus decades.

Doug Winkowitsch, ADM

For 20 years, Doug Winkowitsch directed West Delaware to 15 state appearances including a runner-up finish, recording over 200 wins. Now he is at ADM, having led them to an 8-3 season a year ago.

Editor’s Note: Our corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. This poll is specifically for fans to vote on the nominees and in no way discredits any other players, coaches or teams that may not be mentioned in the poll.