Schulz announced as new boys soccer head coach at EHS

Published 2:39 pm Tuesday, August 30, 2022

A new era in boy’s soccer began on Monday at Elizabethton High School as school athletic director Forrest Holt introduced Doug Schulz as the new soccer coach replacing Coach Bill McClay who retired at the end of last season.

Meeting with players and family, Holt told those in attendance that there were a lot of applicants for the position and the posting was kept open for a long time because the school wanted to make sure the right choice was made to get the right person to fit the culture of Elizabethton High School as well as meeting the direction that the school wanted to move as they moved on from Coach McClay.

“When we interviewed with Coach Schulz, he had a great demeanor and personality that matched our Cyclone family,” Holt said. “He has a lot of experience as a player and coach and has two sons that play as well. He is just a soccer guy – he loves it.”

Schulz said in his introduction that he had been approached five years ago about coaching a high school program but felt that the timing was not right to do so. However, recently he shared how that he felt the timing was now for him to step forward.

“When I interview here, I came here and all the energy that was going on campus got me really excited,” Schulz said. “I feel like I am ready now to proceed with the next challenge in my life. I have a career outside of this at the Sign Factory in Johnson City.  I wanted the opportunity to share the information and knowledge that I have learned over the years and bring it to a community. I am super grateful for all the support that the staff has given me here.”

Schulz will be assisted by Derrick Stiltner, Randy Little, and Danny Birkner.

The new coach is a 1992 graduate of Science Hill High School and graduated from ETSU with a Bachelors of Social Work in 1998. He began his professional career at Grandfather Home for Children in Banner Elk, NC where he worked with sexually abused children.

In 2000, Schulz went to the University of Tennessee College of Social Work as part of a federal initiative to end homelessness among children aging out of foster care in the Northeast Region of Tennessee.

He began playing soccer at age six and played through age 19. After coaching his oldest son’s Parks & Recreation team Schulz felt the need to increase his knowledge in soccer and at age 28 he joined an adult league – State of Franklin Adult Soccer.

Schulz joined Vitesse Soccer where he was coached by his mentor Michale Louter and was named as a coach when Louter restarted his club in 2017 where he has continued to coach since.

He is married to Jennifer and has two sons, Nick and Ben. Ben is a student currently at Liberty Bell Middle School.

“I am hoping to have a varsity and junior varsity,” Schulz said. “I will be choosing in a competitive nature who I feel like are the best starting 11 to put on the field for us to win. That will look different and there will be different opinions on what that might look like.”