After leading Simley High School to its first-ever Minnesota high school football state championship, head coach Chris Mensen is the 2022 Minnesota Vikings High School Coach of the Year. In four years as the school’s head coach, he’s amassed a 33-9 record.
Below is a snippet about Coach Mensen on the Vikings’ website:
Mensen played his high school football in Solon, IA where he accumulated 12 athletic letters in 4 different sports. He continued his playing career for the University of Minnesota and was named Academic All-Big Ten in 2008 and 2009. After college, Coach Mensen played 3 years for the Minnesota Dragons and was named to the NEFL All-Star team in his final two years. Coach Mensen strives to develop phenomenal young men through hard work and toughness while pursuing excellence in the classroom, on the field of competition and in the community.
“My personal reward for coaching is the success stories that I hear from the players who come back to visit the program. Our goal as coaches is to impart on our athletes some sort of life lessons that they can take with them beyond football, and when alumni come back and talk about what they have done in college or their careers, it means the world to me. Seeing those I’ve worked with go on to have success in their own lives, is what this is all about. I hope I can have some sort of small impact on the community through these tremendous young men.”
Minnesota Vikings
Mensen is now a finalist for the Don Shula NFL Award.
About the 2022 Minnesota Vikings Coach of the Week Award
After each week of games during the high school football season, the Vikings honor a high school coach of the week. Coaches are chosen based on their contribution on the football field, but more importantly, on the impact they make within their community and for their student-athletes. In addition to being recognized in local media for the achievement, the school’s football program receives a $1,000 donation on behalf of the Minnesota Vikings.
2022 Minnesota Vikings Coach of the Week winners
Week 9 – Scott Hentges, Sartell HS
Week 8 – Steve Hamilton, Elk River HS
Week 7 – Cory Wailing, Kittson County Central HS
Week 6 – Mark Heiser, Minneapolis Patrick Henry HS
Week 5 – Terry Bahlmann, Marshall HS
Week 4 – Brad Beeskow, Forest Lake HS
Week 3 – Tom Demars, Pine River-Backus HS
Week 2 – Dan Meyers, Cannon Falls HS
Week 1 – Beau Labore, Stillwater HS
