The Haystack

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The Haystack

The student news site of Wheat Ridge High School

The Haystack

Reid Kahl: Top 8 Coach Receives Reactions About the New Quarterback

Picture+by+Dan+Watkins+
Picture by Dan Watkins

By Daniela Santos

Football: the famous American pastime that seems to overwhelm all its fans, whether it is played professionally or at the high school level.

For us Farmers, this current season has enough hot topics to keep us on our toes. Listening in on conversations around the school, I feel these controversies could measure up to the headlines we see on the NFL.

For those who may have no idea that these controversies exist, here are the basics. First of all, every year USA Today has a contest for the Best High School Football coach and recently coach Reid Kahl was selected by USA Today as one of Colorado’s top eight high school football coaches. Though he did not win the title, the recognition was prize enough, “It was really cool for me, just the company I was in with. I was in there with some great coaches.” Kahl has led the Farmers to two state titles since 2006 and has a record of 78-17 from the past eight years.

This season senior Tanner Weakland is no longer leading the team; instead the quarterback is freshman Ryen Kahl. If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because Ryen Kahl is the son of Coach Kahl, and this, readers, is where the mixed reactions begin. For the past week or so, during all our interviews the subject of favoritism was inevitable.

Weakland’s reaction was not as rash as one would assume, “I didn’t react too bad. I was angry, but I’d never played QB before, and I wasn’t as good as I was at other positions.” Yet he was chosen by 9 News as the performer of the week during the season’s first week and was not the quarterback afterwards.

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Coach Kahl knew his son would be put in a difficult place. “I can empathize with him at home because I went through the same thing. I was the quarterback and I played for my dad,” he explained. Other reactions haven’t been the most optimistic. At the homecoming game, the crowd chanted out loud, “We want Tanner!” leading the Coach to nearly kick out the audience. Weakland was surprised about the whole situation, “I thought those cheers were cool and I was glad that the student body had my back.”

But for the current quarterback, “Things happen.” says Ryen Kahl, “It’s a little disappointing when you’re trying to help out a team and people want something else. I feel like I did a darn good game that night, it’s tough hearing that kind of stuff, but I just try to block it out and do my thing and prove to those kids that I can be the best out there.”

So far Ryen Kahl has been level-headed over the matter, “It’s tough going into the season when you got multiple quarterbacks coming in. It’s a tough decision, you know, being the coach’s kid, you never know what’s gonna come at you. I got thrown into a position where our quarterback wasn’t doing as best as he could have.”

Some former players, like senior Paul Busby, don’t agree with having Kahl as quarterback, “My opinion is I don’t like his son starting. When I was a freshman, four of us suited varsity. Now that his son is a freshman, he starts within the first two games, come on. I don’t deny him [Reid Kahl] as a coach. He’s a great choice. Just the decisions he made this season screwed us out of playoffs.”

Others don’t seem to blame the outcome of the season on just one athlete. Current varsity player senior Gabe Young says it’s a case of bad luck. “Although we are 4-3, we have an incredible amount of talent and heart on the team, just some unfortunate turns or events that caused us to lose some games we should have won.”

“My job as a coach here is to put the best team on the field and it was apparent to me and my coaches that he [Ryen Kahl] was the best quarterback,” says coach Kahl who simply wishes for the best in his team and for common courtesy to his son and himself. “It’s been probably one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make as a coach… Ultimately, I just want to win.”

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    louis latinoOct 31, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    THIS IS FIRST TIME I HAVE SEEN YOUR PAPER AND I ENJOYED IT I WILL SAY THAT COACH IS NOT BEING FARE TO A LOT OF BALL PLAYERS YOU HAVE SOME KIDS THAT AARE BEING LOOKED AT FOR COLLAGE AND THERY NOT EEEN PLAYING FOR WHAT I HAVE SEEN AT THE GAMES IS SONE QUARTER BACK SITTING ON THE BENCH WHEN IS SON HAS NO IDIA WHAT HE IS DONG ON GAME IN PERTUCULYWHERE WE GAT INTERCEPTD BEACUSE YOU PUT IN A QUARTER BACK WHO HASNT PLAYED THE WHOLE GAME AND TURNOVER HAPPEND SO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND I WILL BE AT THE LAST GAME OF THER YEARS DESPITE COACH

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