MUSCATINE, Iowa – After seven years in the Muscatine High School football program, the last three as head varsity coach, Brian Sauser is leaving to take on a new challenge.Sauser, who has helped build on Muscatine’s turnaround of football fortunes, has accepted the position of head football coach at Iowa City West, a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference.A story on the Iowa City Press-Citizen Web site Thursday said that Sauser had been offered the job, pending school board approval. Sauser confirmed Thursday night that he is leaving Muscatine to take the job.
“It’s been an exciting couple of days,” Sauser said. “It’s a lot going on at one time. It was really tough today, telling the kids that I was leaving.“It’s been great here in Muscatine, but I’m real excited about a new challenge.”
Sauser will replace Mike Cooper, who resigned from the position after two seasons at the helm. The Trojans were 1-8 the past season after going 2-7 in Cooper’s first year. They were 3-6 in 2005.“I know that they had 59 players on the varsity last year, so the numbers are good,” said Sauser. “Their freshman team was unbeaten and there are some sophomores that people feel good about.”Sauser, who was offensivecoordinator from 2001-04, replaced John Each as head coach in 2005 and finished 3-6 that first season. The Muskies have been 7-3 the last two years under Sauser.The 2005 season is the only one since his arrival that the Muskies have not made the Class 4A state playoffs.Since 1997 when the Muskies ended a streak of 33 consecutive non-winning football seasons, Muscatine has finished above .500 all but that 2005 season.“I feel I’m leaving the program elevated from the way it used to be,” said Sauser. “It’s weird that seven years have gone so fast.“When we made the playoffs my first year here and we beat Burlington for the school’s first-ever playoff win, I didn’t fully appreciate how important that was to the program.“I feel good about the fact that only Muscatine and Bettendorf in the MAC have been in the playoffs six of the last seven years. I truly believe Muscatine has established itself as one of the top two or three teams in the MAC.”Muscatine will return 27 seniors from last year’s 7-3 team and many of them played a prominent role in the Muskies’ success. The sophomores finished just 2-7, but the Muskie freshmen were 8-0-1.“Muscatine will have a great senior class coming in next season,” said Sauser. “They invested a lot of time in the program, and I’m sure they’ll continue to work hard to come in and keep the program rolling.”In some respects, Sauser will be moving to a similar situation at Iowa City West. The biggest change will be the Mississippi Valley Conference has 14 schools and the Mississippi Athletic Conference has 10.“It’s the million-dollar question, which is better the Mississippi Valley or the MAC?” said Sauser. “I think both have your upper division teams, a lot of teams in the middle and some that struggle.“They are similar in a lot of ways, but it will be nice to play different teams because the schedule changes.”Iowa City West began throwing the ball more near the end of the season with Kyle Mason, the grandson of former Muscatine High School all-stater Charlie Mason, at quarterback.But it’s nothing compared to what the Trojan fans will likely see starting next season when Sauser introduces his spread offense to the MVC.“I’m excited to be taking it (the spread offense) to them and they seem to be excited that they’re going to be using it,” said Sauser.“It seems to be the new fad everywhere. It’s fun to coach and the kids love it.”Iowa City West athletic director Mark Reiland is excited to see Sauser at work.“I think one thing that was intriguing was that since he’s been at Muscatine, he must have had a very good offensive mind because they’ve had a tendency to set lots of offensive school records and score points,” Reiland told the Press-Citizen.“Nowadays, you call it an exciting brand of football.”Sauser said he’s already been contacted by a lot of people to offer their support.“One great advantage to coaching in Iowa City is having the University of Iowa right there,” said Sauser. “I’ve already heard from former Hawkeyes Randy Reiners and Eric Thigpen offering to help any way they can.”Sauser said that he has heard that a lot of the Iowa City West coaching staff would like to return. There is no word on how Sauser’s resignation will affect the Muscatine coaching staff.A phone call to Muscatine High School activities director Tim Goodwin seeking comments was not returned by press time.
“It’s been an exciting couple of days,” Sauser said. “It’s a lot going on at one time. It was really tough today, telling the kids that I was leaving.“It’s been great here in Muscatine, but I’m real excited about a new challenge.”
Sauser will replace Mike Cooper, who resigned from the position after two seasons at the helm. The Trojans were 1-8 the past season after going 2-7 in Cooper’s first year. They were 3-6 in 2005.“I know that they had 59 players on the varsity last year, so the numbers are good,” said Sauser. “Their freshman team was unbeaten and there are some sophomores that people feel good about.”Sauser, who was offensivecoordinator from 2001-04, replaced John Each as head coach in 2005 and finished 3-6 that first season. The Muskies have been 7-3 the last two years under Sauser.The 2005 season is the only one since his arrival that the Muskies have not made the Class 4A state playoffs.Since 1997 when the Muskies ended a streak of 33 consecutive non-winning football seasons, Muscatine has finished above .500 all but that 2005 season.“I feel I’m leaving the program elevated from the way it used to be,” said Sauser. “It’s weird that seven years have gone so fast.“When we made the playoffs my first year here and we beat Burlington for the school’s first-ever playoff win, I didn’t fully appreciate how important that was to the program.“I feel good about the fact that only Muscatine and Bettendorf in the MAC have been in the playoffs six of the last seven years. I truly believe Muscatine has established itself as one of the top two or three teams in the MAC.”Muscatine will return 27 seniors from last year’s 7-3 team and many of them played a prominent role in the Muskies’ success. The sophomores finished just 2-7, but the Muskie freshmen were 8-0-1.“Muscatine will have a great senior class coming in next season,” said Sauser. “They invested a lot of time in the program, and I’m sure they’ll continue to work hard to come in and keep the program rolling.”In some respects, Sauser will be moving to a similar situation at Iowa City West. The biggest change will be the Mississippi Valley Conference has 14 schools and the Mississippi Athletic Conference has 10.“It’s the million-dollar question, which is better the Mississippi Valley or the MAC?” said Sauser. “I think both have your upper division teams, a lot of teams in the middle and some that struggle.“They are similar in a lot of ways, but it will be nice to play different teams because the schedule changes.”Iowa City West began throwing the ball more near the end of the season with Kyle Mason, the grandson of former Muscatine High School all-stater Charlie Mason, at quarterback.But it’s nothing compared to what the Trojan fans will likely see starting next season when Sauser introduces his spread offense to the MVC.“I’m excited to be taking it (the spread offense) to them and they seem to be excited that they’re going to be using it,” said Sauser.“It seems to be the new fad everywhere. It’s fun to coach and the kids love it.”Iowa City West athletic director Mark Reiland is excited to see Sauser at work.“I think one thing that was intriguing was that since he’s been at Muscatine, he must have had a very good offensive mind because they’ve had a tendency to set lots of offensive school records and score points,” Reiland told the Press-Citizen.“Nowadays, you call it an exciting brand of football.”Sauser said he’s already been contacted by a lot of people to offer their support.“One great advantage to coaching in Iowa City is having the University of Iowa right there,” said Sauser. “I’ve already heard from former Hawkeyes Randy Reiners and Eric Thigpen offering to help any way they can.”Sauser said that he has heard that a lot of the Iowa City West coaching staff would like to return. There is no word on how Sauser’s resignation will affect the Muscatine coaching staff.A phone call to Muscatine High School activities director Tim Goodwin seeking comments was not returned by press time.
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