SUPERBOWL SCHOOL TO

Sitting Inside Madison

Square Garden, 23 year old Mark Simoneau patiently waited for his name to be called at the 2000 NFL Draft.

And it was. With the 67th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected Mark Simoneau — a linebacker from Kansas State University.

He played three seasons for Atlanta before becoming a free agent and signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. During his time with the Eagles, he had the chance to play in Super Bowl XXXIV in 2005 against the Patriots led by Tom Brady. During training camp of his fourth season with the Eagles, he was traded to the New Orleans Saints, where he also spent three years and earned another shot at the Super Bowl where Simoneau earned himself a championship ring.

After a successful career he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs where after one year he would decide to retire in 2010 due to injury.

Now in 2023, Simoneau — better known around East as Coach Simoneau — has officially accepted the head football coach position at East for the upcoming year. Simoneau has already made an impact in the past year helping athletes grow in all areas of their sports, according to former East safety and D1 BYU track star Kyler Haughton.

“The program he ran for me at East and the program he’s still doing at East now is almost equivalent to what I’m doing at the D1 level,” Haughton said.

A lot of the players have already had the chance to meet Simoneau through his strength training program that he started when he first arrived — Lancer Elite. Running this program during all seasons before and after school to help athletes get faster and stronger and utilize their natural abilities to their biggest potential. His success with Lancer Elite has football players very excited to see what he is able to do with the football program.

“Words can’t even explain how excited I was when I was told he got the job,” Varsity player and junior Joey Hoffmann said. “With my senior year coming I wanted them to hire someone who could step in and make immediate improvements to the program. Everyone respects him so much and knows how lucky we are to have him as our coach.” could work with the same kids, day after day, week after week,” Simoneau said.

Simoneau’s coaching career didn’t just begin at East. For over 10 years he’s coached, working with players from all different types of sports in all different areas ranging from speed to strength to specific sports training.

The East football team has struggled in the past few years with this season’s record being 2-7, but players have been able to see the work ethic Simoneau has which further motivates them to listen to what he says and improve at their craft.

“He’s always there, he puts in so much time for our weights program”, Varsity player and sophomore Brady Haughton said. “And I’ve just seen a big growth with all of our athletes, not just me, but everybody has grown a lot. he lives in that weight room.”

WORDS CAN’T even explain how excited I was when I was told he got the job.

With my senior year coming, I wanted them to hire someone who could step in and make immediate improvements.

JOEY HOFFMANN

JUNIOR

After announcing his NFL retirement, Mark decided to start his own training business which he owned for seven years before deciding the business aspect wasn’t for him. He wanted to try the high school coaching route.

He then started his high school coaching career at Gardner Edgerton as the strength and linebackers coach before coming to East where he quickly fell in love with the consistency he was able to create at the high school level.

“High school kind of just allowed the consistency aspect where you

The main thing that Mark believes in is the work ethic that needs to be installed into the athletes to have a successful culture and team. In high school football, players are only guaranteed nine games per season and with that comes months of training for the opportunity to get faster and stronger and become an overall better player. Mark hopes to be able to teach his players how to attack these months before and during the season so that they can all grow to their potential.

“I’m big on attacking every day and trying to get better every single day,” Simoneau said. “It’s about that consistency and the work ethic, and everybody coming together as a team. To me that makes the difference.”

SENIOR TYLER KIRCHOFF had prepared for the worst: the boys volleyball team not getting another season. After their first official season in 2022, Kirchhoff was determined to keep the team going this spring. But nothing was guaranteed, and he didn’t even know if people would show up for tryouts.

But a pleasant surprise awaited him. 14 students arrived to try out for the team — a far better outcome than the eight players who showed up last year.

The Spike Boys was created last year by thensenior Noah Gould to meet the creativity, activity and service hour requirements for IB Diploma candidates by leading and organizing team activities. This year, Kirchhoff took on Gould’s duties as team captain, to continue the team so he and his friends could keep playing the sport they all enjoy.