MASON CITY – The Mason City High School football team has a new coach.
Matt Berkley, currently a social studies teacher at John Adams Middle School and varsity football offensive line coach this past season, today accepted the position as Head Football Coach for the Mohawks this coming season.
Berkley, a graduate of Dubuque Senior High School in 1995 and receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in History and Education from Iowa State University, moved to Mason City in 2000 to begin his career as an educator in the Mason City Community School District. During his employment in Mason City, Berkley coached football as a freshman/sophomore assistant, head sophomore coach, varsity defensive coordinator under Coach John Lee and during the 2014 season as an offensive line coach for Interim Head Coach Dan Kamm.
Berkley pursued advanced degrees in Education earning a Master of Education from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota (2006) and a Specialist in Education with an emphasis on Leadership in Education from Drake University (2012). In addition to teaching and coaching, Berkley served a number of years as Middle School Athletics Director, assisting with scheduling and organization of middle school activities, and is currently a co- leader of the John Adams PBIS (Positive Behaviors Interventions System) program. Berkley is currently a member of the Youth Football Board in Mason City.
Berkley has called Mason City his home since August of 2000 and is married to Sara (Fryar) Berkley, a graduate of Mason City High School and employed at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. They have three sons – Ryan 11 in 5th grade at Lincoln Intermediate, Brenden 9 in 3rd grade at Jefferson Elementary and Nathan 6 in kindergarten at Jefferson Elementary.
Berkley shares, “This is a place that I have come to love and take a tremendous amount of pride in being associated with. I consider myself a life-long Mohawk and feel like I grew up here. My family has made Mason City our home and we are excited to be a part of the future of Mohawk Football. I am very passionate about being a Mohawk and plan on bringing that with me to the field on a daily basis. I feel we have a core of underclassmen that will help us get the program turned around so we are competitive on yearly basis.
Our youth programs have players that are involved in a lot of different activities besides football and our middle school athletes are also involved in multiple sports. This is a great foundation to help our program develop over time. Currently our athletes have been putting in a lot of hard workouts during the offseason, laying the foundation for the future. Building a program takes time and I am willing to put in the time and effort to see this program return to that consistent competitiveness. To me, this is a chance to build something special at Mason City with a great bunch of kids in an excellent community.”
The District would like to thank Dan Kamm for stepping in as Interim Head Varsity Football Coach for the 2014 season due to the late resignation of Justin Penner. The District is excited that Coach Kamm will continue to support our student athletes as a member of the Mohawk football coaching staff and we look forward to the next football season. Th M0hawks open the 2015 season on August 28 against the Clear Lake Lions in Clear Lake!
