Local Sports

New coach Zach Pfantz introduced at AP

Zach Pfantz was introduced as the new head football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg during a community welcome event Sunday at the high school.

An alum of West Marshall, Pfantz played college football at Coe College, where he was a four-year letter winner while earning all-conference honors. He’s been a head coach at Akron-Westfield, Ottumwa and most recently Bondurant-Farrar. While at Bondurant-Farrar, he led the team to a UNI-Dome appearance in 2023, and was named the Iowa Football Coaches Association Class 4A Coach of the Year. He’s also served as an assistant coach at Central College and Waukee Northwest. He describes why he was attracted to AP.

“The first thing is there’s just so much history and tradition, and the legacy here,” Pfantz says. “It’s pretty special. You can feel that just walking the halls, being in the building, and there’s just so much history and tradition. When I first started this process, I knew about that. But what I didn’t know about were the people, and I came up here and just, the leadership of this school district, the people in this community, the kids, the talent that’s here, it’s so exciting to be in a place that’s as passionate about who they are and where they’re from as here. I kind of grew up in a town and a community similar to that. Just for my family and I, just being able to be a part of that again was a pretty attractive thing.”

Activities Director Carter Hoff says Pfantz clearly emerged as the right person for the job during his interview.

“His resume really stood out right away,” Hoff says. “Somebody who’s had a lot of success, whether that was on the field or in the classroom developing young men, both things were true. When he came in for his interview, he just completely blew us away. Very organized, had a clear vision. Somebody who wants to come to s community where football and students matter, and really, in my opinion, there’s no better place than here at AP.”