1/16/2025

CRHS FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES NEW HEAD COACH

The Coon Rapids Gridiron Club is pleased to announce the hiring of our new Head Varsity Football Coach:

Chase Vasquez

Coach Vasquez will be entering his 1st season as the Head Football Coach of the Coon Rapids Cardinals. He will be in his 10th season coaching high school football and will be coordinating the offense and coaching quarterbacks.

Coach Vasquez was raised throughout the Andover, Anoka, and Coon Rapids communities and played varsity football in the Northwest Suburban Conference at Andover High School, where he was a 3-sport letterman in football, basketball, and track. He was an all-conference football player, elected 4th team captain, 3x letterman winner, and a member of the first state participants football team in school history (2007). Upon graduation, he played one season of collegiate football at Saint John’s University (2010) before transferring to the University of Minnesota-Duluth and graduating with a B.A. Marketing and minor in Psychology (2016). Coach Vasquez also has a special education teaching license with a focus on working with students with autism spectrum disorders.

Before joining Coon Rapids, Coach Vasquez was at Andover High School where he spent 9 years with his previous four seasons (2020-2023) as the Varsity Co-Special Teams Coordinator, Co-Pass Game Coordinator, and Quarterback Coach. He has additional coaching experience including three seasons as the Varsity Defensive Backs Coach (2017-2019), one season as the 9th grade Co-Offensive Coordinator and QB/WR Coach (2016), and one season as the 10th grade Co-Offensive Coordinator and QB/WR Coach (2013). In addition to coaching varsity football, he worked as the lead speed coach (2017-2023 and an assistant weight room coach throughout the winter and summer (2017-2023). He was also an assistant coach for three seasons for the Physical Impaired (P-I) Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs (2017-2019).

Coach Vasquez’s goal for the program is to create an environment for the best student-athlete experience that strives to empower individual ownership in attitude, academics, and athletics. We will focus on player development by teaching athletes the 'WHY' behind each task to build understanding and accountability. We will emphasize self-correction by guiding players to reflect and grow through consistent practice and mentorship. We will develop young men into leaders who represent Coon Rapids High School with humility, respect, and integrity.

Coach Vasquez currently lives in Otsego with his wife Ashley and his sons Jackson (3) and Scout (2). Coach Vasquez spent 5 years as a special education teacher at Andover High School but has spent the previous two years as a substitute teacher in the Anoka-Hennepin School District. 

Mark your calendars for our 2nd annual "Takedowns and Touchdowns" Wrestling appreciation night!

When: February 7th JV 6:00pm Varsity 7:20pm

Where: Coon Rapids Fieldhouse @ CRHS

Who: All parents, players and coaches for Coon Rapids Football

What: To pack the gym in support of our wrestling team as they face off vs. Centennial in a late-season dual meet!

Why: Wrestling is the biggest supporter of Coon Rapids Football BY A MILE, and we want to pack the gym and give our wrestling team a huge home field advantage!

    It is Senior night, the band will be there, and the atmosphere will be ROCKING.

"C.U.L.T.U.R.E"

Cardinal Parents: The Coon Rapids Gridiron Club is YOU.  CRGC was formed and exists for the sole purpose of promoting and financially supporting Coon Rapids High School football.  The district does only the bare minimum to field a team at each school... it's up to interested and invested parties (You the parents) to work on behalf of our players.  We feed 'em, we clothe 'em, we buy needed equipment, we support coaches in the offseason, we produce and print game programs, we paint the game field, we host banquets and family picnics, we create game-day partnerships with vendors that benefit the team, we plan and execute fundraisers, pretty much everything that's involved in fielding a team we can be proud to be a part of... we do!  

The thing is, we're typically 10 or less people, supporting a group that typically has 100+ players/families.  Some other folks chip in here and there, but we need much more!  If every family was sincerely invested in this program - think of how much we'd accomplish!!!

Coon Rapids Football is looking for an individual who will be committed to attending all 2025 Varsity football games in the capacity of statistician.  

If you are interested in this role please reach out to Joel Tanem jtanem97@yahoo.com - thank you!

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"Don't count the days; make the days count."

- Muhammad Ali