Archbishop Moeller High School announced Mark Elder as its eighth head football coach. Coach Elder comes to Moeller with 20 years of coaching experience. Elder was recently the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University.

Since Moeller created its football program in 1960, the program has had nine state championships, five national championships, and seven coaches. Mark Elder makes number eight.

Moeller Athletic Director Mike Asbeck said, “we didn’t open up the interview process publicly, but we received much interest from around the area.” Applicants sent in their resumes, and Asbeck and the hiring team were able to break them down into their interest level and category. The applicants were then brought in for an interview.

Asbeck said, “we were looking for leadership, experience, passion, and somebody who could develop our players.” Asbeck felt that there were a number of qualified people who demonstrated those characteristics, but Mark Elder rose to the top in a number of areas.

During the interview process, Elder really stuck out to the hiring team making the decision easier. “Elder’s leadership skills, passion, and coaching experience hit high marks,” according to Asbeck.

Moeller Athletics is looking forward to Elder’s passion, leadership, accountability, championship attitude, and ability to develop players. “Doing all those things well, will lead to success on the field, and I'm confident that is not far around the corner,” Asbeck said.

Elder is excited to be able to come back to Cincinnati, and raise his children in the same city he grew up in. Elder said, “I loved my childhood here. I think Cincinnati is a fantastic place to raise kids.” According to Elder, this was a big part of his decision to come to Moeller.

While Elder’s family is very excited to come up to Cincinnati, they are still in Kentucky at the time. Elder’s wife, Lindsey, is excited to move to Cincinnati, since it’s closer to her hometown of Flint, Michigan.

Elder knows there is going to be an adjustment coaching in high school. He said, “The last time I was around high school football was in 1995 and I was playing.” Elder is expecting some adjustment, but he is a quick learner and is excited.

Coming to Moeller was the first choice for Elder. He said, “I took this job before the college cycle went through, it was the first choice, it wasn’t a comparison, it was the right choice for us.” Elder exclaimed, “I wanted to have a stable environment for our family. This was big for me, I wanted to have stability for our children.” Elder and his wife Lindsey had a lot of discussion and prayer, they felt like it was the right move.

Elder is not too worried about the expectations to win. “I’ve been in some pressure cookers before. I’ve coached at Tennessee, where there are about one hundred thousand fans in attendance, so I'm used to being in that type of environment,” Elder said.

Elder is thrilled to be at Moeller, “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to create an unbelievable experience for the players.” When considering his own experience as a high school player, Elder applauded his coaches' ability to create an environment that allowed him to have an unbelievable experience. Elder wants to replicate that and create an unbelievable experience for our players here.

“It's going to be about developing young men to be fully invested in something that is bigger than themselves,” Elder said when talking about his plan for success, “It’s not about any individual it’s about the collective of Moeller football and making sacrifices and a commitment to something bigger than you.”

Elder believes you find success when you commit to something bigger than yourself and put everything into it. He said, “teaching this lesson is a very important part of growing as a man, you are always going to be a part of something bigger than you.”

Nate Pabst, Moeller defensive end and rising senior, is looking forward to the changing coaching staff and new season. Nate said, “I have to fill the roles of great leaders before me and pick up the energy on this team.” Nate has shown great interest in becoming a senior captain next year.

Nate believes that keeping a strong culture “lies within all of us in the weight room, where no one else is around except the football team.”

With many recent changes in leadership, Nate is excited for a fresh start and to build on what wasn’t there before. Nate said, “I’m looking forward to seeing a new team out of us, more energy, more hype, and more brotherhood.”

Moeller Football opens up its 2020 season at Middletown High School on August 28th.

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