Reload, not rebuild

According to Athletic Director Loren Sandhop, hiring people is the most important thing he does.

"They're the ones who are working day in and day out with kids. We need people who are relationship builders and have good character, and above all else, want to make good young men and young women in our programs, and Kyler checks all those boxes," Sandhop said.

He noted Haneberg's character, leadership and relationship build have been put on display throughout the years, which has not gone unnoticed, Sandhop said.

"The number-one thing I've heard from everybody I've talked to, and I've witnessed myself over the last seven years (is) he truly believes that we're using football to build young men into our community," he said.

Haneberg will inherit a team culture established under Coach Jay, which he feels will help make the transition much smoother.

"It helps so much, especially we have so many parents that are coaches on our staff, and so having parents bought into the culture who can coach, and they do a tremendous job, too, at taking that father cap off when it's time to be a coach, and letting us coach them hard, and so it helps with our staff ... it's going to make this transition seamless," Haneberg said.

Reloading, not rebuilding

If you were to ask anyone in the Mavericks football program, next season will not be a rebuilding year, they will reload. If you ask Haneberg about his expectations for next season, it's league title, or bust.

"In this league, it's to win a Big 9 or nothing," he said. "I think it's really important to these kids. I had a lot of them reaching out to me right away after it was official, and the first thing they're all saying is, 'Let's run this back. Let's win it again. Let's go farther.' I think it starts there. If we see that the culture is still aligned with what we believe and our kids are giving that 100% effort, that's success to me."

Sandhop is aligned with those sentiments, as well. The Mavericks rostered a deep pool of talent last season, with many of them waiting for their opportunity to take the reins. Something they will be poised to do this fall, he said.

"We're in a really good place. We had a very successful run underneath Coach Jay," Sandhop said. "That's one of the beautiful things, is we've got a lot of talent, and we have a great program in place. Brett (Jay) was absolutely not leaving the cupboard bare. This is a cupboard that's loaded, and we were just going to go to a new page of it."

Haneberg also remains confident in the student athletes he will get to work with next season, he said.

"The depth that no one really got to see unless you went to a JV game is crazy. Our freshman team went undefeated. We're reloading, and of course, losing the state record holder in Brady Jay is going to hurt. But man, our quarterback room is elite. We've got three or four guys that are right there, ready to push for that starting spot," Haneberg said.

As they look ahead to a long summer, Haneberg is just ready to get to work.

"Week one is against Richland at home, and I'm excited. I'm ready to go," Haneberg said.