West turns to Hartwig

IOWA CITY - Garrett Hartwig followed Brian Sauser to West High School. Now, he'll succeed him as head football coach.

The defensive coordinator for six seasons, Hartwig, 32, was named as the Trojans' new coach Friday afternoon.

'I'm really honored,” Hartwig said. 'We've experienced a lot of success here, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity of carrying that forward.”

Sauser resigned in May after being hired as an offensive coordinator at Yukon High School near Oklahoma City.

A native of Wyoming, Hartwig played collegiate football at the University of South Dakota at strong safety and was a team captain.

It was there that he met his wife, the former Emily Triplett, the sister of his college roommate and an Iowa City native. They have two children.

After graduation from USD, Hartwig took a teaching job in Sioux City, then joined Sauser at Muscatine. When Sauser went took the job at West, Hartwig came along.

He teaches English.

'I'm a teacher first and foremost,” he said. 'It's something I take very seriously.”

West was 9-2 last season and reached the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

'I hope to take this program in a similar direction. I think I have some ideas that will work well,” Hartwig said.

West Athletics Director Scott Kibby said in a statement: 'Coach Hartwig has the admiration and respect of our student athletes, and he has our confidence to provide the leadership our program requires.

'Given that this head coaching position opened so late in the school year, we determined that Garrett offered our program with the continuity essential for our players and team as a whole to be successful for the fall season.”

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