The Bill Snyder Family/Sunflower Chapter of the National Football Foundation has announced its special recognition awards for the 2024-25 academic year.
The winners will be honored at the annual chapter awards dinner to be conducted May 7 at the Shamrock Plaza at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, Kan. Check-in and a reception begin at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. (NOTE: 12 student-athletes who are high school seniors in 2024-25 will be announced later as Sunflower Chapter scholarship award winners).
Andover Central head coach Derek Tuttle and Southeast of Saline head coach Mitch Gebhardt were named the Don Fambrough Coaches of the Year. The legendary late Kansas head football coach, Fambrough was also a member of the Jayhawks’ 1947 Orange Bowl team. He led the Jayhawks to the 1973 Liberty and 1981 Hall of Fame bowls.
A native of Grinnell, Kan., Tuttle played two years at Bethany College before completing his education at Kansas State. He has been a fixture at Andover schools since 1998 and became head coach at Andover Central in 2019, registering a 57-15 record in six years. That includes Class 4A runner-up finishes in 2019, 21, 23 and the title this past season, defeating Bishop Miege 49-42. Gebhardt, who graduated from Ellsworth High School and Fort Hays State University, is 143-74 in 22 years combined at Lincoln and Southeast of Saline. Southeast of Saline is 54-4 in his last five seasons. The Trojans claimed the Class 2A title this past season with a 36-28 win over Nemaha Central.
The Kansas Coaching Legends Lifetime Achievement award will be given to Tom Young. Trailing only Silver Lake's C.J. Hamilton and Pittsburg Colgan's Chuck Smith as the winningest HS football coach in Kansas history with a 343-11 record in 44 years (Hanover: 1971-79; Wellington: 1980-82; Derby: 1983-2003; Leavenworth: 2004-05; McPherson: 2006-14). He has state championships in 1979, 1982, 1994. He is originally from Adams, Neb.
The John and Phil Laurie Officiating Award goes to David Haynes, a resident of Wichita, Kan. He has been self-employed in the construction industry for the past 20 years and began working high school football in 2014. Since then, he has worked 19 playoff games in that span. He officiated high school basketball from 1992-2000 working several substate rounds. He also officiated college basketball from 1995-2023, working numerous KCAC and Jayhawk conference championships. Haynes worked several NAIA regional championships and three NJCAA Division I National Tournaments, twice officiating the national championship.
The Dick Foster Legacy Award, created last year and awarded posthumously to the Jayhawk Conference coaching legend will be presented to Troy Morrell. Born in Benkelman, Neb., and a graduate of Buhler, Kan. High School, he played at Butler Community College and later Fort Hays State University. He returned to Butler as the OL coach and OC from 1996-1999. From 2000-14 he was the Butler head coach, amassing a 154-22 mark including a 30-3 mark in the NJCAA Region VI playoffs. He won NJCAA national titles in 2003, 07, 08.