2012 Coach of the Year to lead Rocket football program

New Catholic High head coach John Fogleman no stranger to post season success

Published: April 27, 2013

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Malvern High School

John Fogleman is the new head football coach at Catholic High School in Little Rock. He and his wife Kilee have three children, Kyle, age 12 (left); Cody, age 7 and Kennedy, age 11.

Malvern High School

John Fogleman is the new head football coach at Catholic High School in Little Rock. He and his wife Kilee have three children, Kyle, age 12 (left); Cody, age 7 and Kennedy, age 11.

Catholic High School of Little Rock introduced John Fogleman as its new head football coach April 18.

Fogelman, the 2012 Coleman Dairy 4A Coach of the Year, comes to the program from Malvern High School where he led the Leopards to the second round of the state tournament last year.

“Obviously this is a huge honor, to be a part of a place with so much history,” Fogleman said. “I attended Catholic High School my freshman year, and I am well aware of everything that school has to offer.”

“John brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our classrooms and football field. He understands the importance we place on academics as well as the importance of building our student athletes into admirable men,” principal Steve Straessle said in a statement released by the school. “We believe in his ability to inspire both in the classroom and on the field and that’s the primary reason for his hire.”

“We wanted a coach who could help our mission to build good husbands, good fathers and good men, and we believe John will continue that part of the Catholic High legacy,” Straessle said.

Fogelman replaces David Estes, who took over the program following Scooter Register’s departure for Little Rock Central High School in 2010.

Estes is resigning on good terms with the administration, but it is unclear whether he will remain with the school past May because of professional opportunities that may take him away from Little Rock.

Straessle praised Estes as “a valuable and beloved member of our faculty for more than 13 years” and added that he was welcome to return to the teaching staff if he so chose. No other changes have been made to the coaching staff.

Estes’ departure came to the attention of Fogleman through friends and acquaintances close to the school but said he wasn’t in the market for a new job.

“Malvern has been very, very good to us,” he said. “It was a tough decision to leave after six years.”

This is the fourth coaching stop for Fogleman, who graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in history in 1992. His past positions have included three years coaching baseball and as part of Register’s football staff at El Dorado High School. From there, he spent nine years at Bentonville and served as offensive coordinator for the 2001 state champion squad.

Fogelman came to Malvern in 2007 and had an immediate impact on the football program, taking them to the playoffs the past four seasons. His team reached the title game in 2011. In his new role, Fogleman will also teach history and civics as well as lead the Rockets.

The new coach said he hadn’t yet had a chance to meet with the Rocket coaching staff and didn’t yet have a precise timetable for arriving in Little Rock, except to say he was looking forward to getting here, “as soon as I can.” He described his coaching style as forging attitudes first, formations second.

“Number one, you control your attitude and that dictates everything else,” he said. “My focus is to develop great attitude and consistently great effort and then move onto schemes.

“Obviously you have to be multi-faceted in what you do. The teams today are too good for you to do just one thing well. But running and stopping the run are good places to start.”

A 1988 graduate of Hall High School, Fogelman and his wife, Kilee, have two sons ages 12 and 7, and one daughter, age 11.