lion-logo-2Former high school and college All-American Jared DeVries will be the new head coach for the Clear Lake High School football team. DeVries accepted the position on Tuesday after serving as a volunteer assistant for a handful of years for the Lions program, and now takes over the reins from longtime coach Fred Wieck, who announced earlier this spring he was stepping down.

“I’m very excited, obviously we have big shoes to fill…replacing 70 to 80 years of coaching experience overnight. One positive is we have great kids, we have great staff, the tradition at Clear Lake is outstanding and we hope to keep that moving forward ,” DeVries says.

DeVries continuing the tradition that Wieck had built over the last three decades will be a tough job as he says you don’t replace a legend overnight. DeVries says he wants to be able to pass along his high school, college and professional experiences to the Lions players.

“I’ve been able to play for a legendary coach in the late great Ed Thomas (of Aplington-Parkersbug). I was able to coach under another legendary coach for four years here at Clear Lake, coach Wieck, they’ve won a ton of games, has just added to my experiences through college and the NFL have just added to my experience and the things I’ve been able to gather,” De Vries says. ” But now it’s about the kids. It’s about taking all those experiences and passing them along to the kids. This isn’t about me, it’s about Clear Lake and the Clear Lake kids and it will always be that way. But I am extremely excited.

DeVries was a member of Aplington-Parkersburg’s state championship team in 1993 and was an All-American at the University of Iowa before spending his entire 12-year career in the NFL with the Detroit Lions.

By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City