GAYLORD ― After a few months of waiting, the Gaylord football program has a new head coach leading the way.
Matt Silsbury, a GHS assistant coach under previous head coach DJ Szymoniak, will be taking over the Blue Devils program next fall, the school officially announced on Monday, May 12.
“(Silsbury) has been coaching football in northern Michigan for quite some time, and to have him be able to really continue to build upon the foundational components that our program has been pretty successful in thepast years is what we’re looking forward to,” said Gaylord athletic director Dale Cowper.
Silsbury has previous head coaching experience, leading Houghton Lake to a 4-3 record during the 2020 season. He also spent time with the Roscommon football program and has been part of the Gaylord coaching staff for the past few seasons.
Around 20 coaches applied for the job and, according to Cowper, Silsbury’s familiarity with the program helped make the decision easier, having he and the remaining coaches continue to push the core values of the program while improving on other parts of the game.
“I was really looking for somebody that would help keep continuity within the program because, especially when you look at the defensive side of the ball, I think the program had been doing some good things and we wanted to kind of keep certain members of the staff together,” said Cowper.
GHS had been without a head coach since December when coach Szymoniak’s contract was not extended, leaving the first-year athletic director to replace the third-winningest head coach in Blue Devil football history. Szymoniak was recently announced as the new head coach at Alpena, a fellow Big North Conference team.
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: A new leader finally chosen; former GHS assistant tabbed to lead Gaylord football
Reporting by Dylan Jespersen, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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