Coach of the Year - Chris Coble
2025 Coach of the Year - Chris Coble
Chris Coble typically serves as the Athletic Director at North Moore High School. This spring, he would have to step into a coaching role as the North Moore Girls’ Soccer coach.
The Lady Mustangs didn’t have a coach this season, and after posting the vacant position, the staff at North Moore was weeks away from the beginning of the season with no one to lead the ladies. “We posted the job for many months and didn’t get much traction on finding a replacement,” said Coble. “Once we got close enough to the season without a coach, I became the only option to coach and ensure we had a season.”
After speaking to North Moore principal Joseph Patterson about him coaching, they were good to go. Coble asked coach Crystal Leenheer to assist, who is the school’s head volleyball coach, and she agreed.
This was the school’s second winning season in six years, excluding the 19-20 Covid season. The team finished this season with a 14-5 overall record and an 8-4 conference record and made it to the second round of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs. Last season, the ladies finished with a 5-11-2 overall record. “I think the real inspiration was just the belief in themselves and that with a new idea on doing things could lead to success,” said Coble. “We installed a new system and a new attack; several of them were in new positions. They needed to believe in themselves, like I believed in them.”
The Lady Mustangs had a home record of 9-3 and outscored their opponents 88-30.
Coble’s reputation is that of someone who fully commits, never doing a task halfway. “I was all in, Coach Leenheer was all in, it was just a matter of them being all in and doing the little things that end up creating a winning program,” said Coble. The ladies did just that, from the beginning until the end. They bought in and showed it every day.
The Lady Mustangs had a home record of 9-3 and outscored their opponents 88-30.
“There were so many memories from the season, just the fact of how we turned the whole program around from last year to this year. It seemed like every game we were breaking some sort of milestone and checking off goals we had set at the beginning of the season. Just seeing the hard work the team put in and then getting the reward of winning games because of it, the genuine happiness they had as the hard work paid off for them was what I will remember the most.”
The program graduated only three seniors, which means a bright future is ahead next year. Following such a successful season, one question remained for us regarding Coach Coble: would he coach again next season?
“Yes, I plan on coaching the program next year!”
Simply Avilee sponsored the Coach of the Year Award.
Written by Curtis Self
