Hillcrest High is proud to announce the hiring of a new football coach to lead the Huskies into a strong and successful future.
David Hastings, who previously served as Lehi High’s coach, is taking helm of Hillcrest’s gridiron squad. Hillcrest Principal Sue Malone says she is thrilled to welcome Hastings to her staff and school community.
“We believe that in Coach Hastings we have found a great match for the future of Hillcrest football,” Malone says. “We look forward to a lot of hard work and dedication from Coach Hastings and our student athletes as they prepare off-season for the upcoming 2014 season.”
The new coach comes to Hillcrest after turning around a struggling program. During Hastings’ three years as head coach of the Pioneers, he led the team from consecutive winless seasons to a 9-21 record. This past season, the Pioneers finished with a 5-5 record, the best Lehi had posted since 2004. He was able to accomplish this turnaround amid a switch from 4A to 5A competition, and for his success, Hastings was named All Utah Valley Coach of the Year for 2013.
Hastings also coached the Sugar Salem Diggers in Sugar City, Idaho, where he built a “Grid Kid” youth football program and led the Diggers to a district title in 2010, the team’s first in 12 years, and was named 2007 Mountain River Conference Coach of the Year. He also worked as an offensive line and passing coach with the legendary coach Darin Owens at Hillcrest High in Ammon, Idaho, where he helped lead the team to the state championship. In addition, he coached two years at Page High in Arizona, spent two years as the offensive coordinator at Eastern Arizona College, and spent one year as a graduate assistant at Southern Utah University, where he worked with defensive backs. He played two years at Ricks College before completing his playing career at SUU as a defensive back.
Jamal Willis, CSD athletic compliance coordinator and member of the committee that selected the new coach, says he has full confidence that Hastings will make an “instant and positive impact at Hillcrest High.”
“He has a proven track record in building strong programs at the high school and then reaching into the community to build talent,” said Willis, also a former NFL player. “We are impressed with the passion Coach Hastings has demonstrated in developing his players’ skills and talents for the football field, and we are equally impressed with his dedication to ensuring his players’ excellence in the classroom.”
