HOLLAND – Dave Abberger is back as Holland Christian football coach.
If it seems like he never left, he really never did.
After stepping down following the fall season, Holland Christian hired Kurt Phelps to replace Abberger as head varsity football coach.
But Holland Christian Athletic Director Dave Enbgers said personal circumstances changed for Phelps, who no longer could take the job.
So the Maroons looked back to Abberger, who is a pastor and father of multiple college football players.
“It has been great being part of Holland Christian and coaching a really special group of young men,” Abberger said. “This past season was a stretch for me. Between coaching and my role as a pastor – with our church growing and in the middle of a major building campaign – I had to take a hard look at how to manage both well.”
With the time between those commitments and head coaching, the Maroons turned to basketball coach Brad Jansen to step in as director of football operations, to help with some of the off-the-field parts of coaching.
“What made coming back possible was the support from our administration. Moving coach Jansen into the of football operations role and adding more help give me the margin I need to really focus on our players, our culture and the football side of things.
“I’m excited to be back and looking forward to getting to work.”
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian brings back Dave Abberger as football coach
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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