K.B. Criss leaves Humboldt to focus on family, free time

Humboldt High is losing its football coach and superintendent of schools next year. K.B. Criss is handing in his whistle to work full time at the Cedar Vale/Dexter school district as its superintendent and high school principal.
Criss said he doesn’t plan on coaching again, but did say he wouldn’t say “no” if asked.
“Never say never, as that happened here [at Humboldt],” Criss said. “If they need help, I’ll be glad to help out if I have the time.”
After retiring in 2005 as the head coach at Humboldt, Criss found himself back at the helm of the football program in 2012. He originally walked away from coaching to focus on being the high school and middle school principal. The new job kept him busy and he wanted some time to focus on family.
He never thought he would coach again, until the team needed him in 2012.
“At the time, I said I would commit three years to the program,” Criss said. “At the beginning of the 2014 season, the coaches all knew that it would be my last and who would take over. This was done to make for a smooth transition.”
Criss said he will miss both the players and coaches at Humboldt, but especially the players.
“They were the special ones that made all of that time worthwhile,” Criss said.
Over his staggered eight-year career as the head coach, Humboldt finished with a 48-32 record under his tutelage. The team made it to the playoffs in five of his eight seasons. He started as the head coach in 2001-2005 in his first go-around as coach.
“One game that I remember more painfully than any other is a loss. My first year here, we ended up 7-2 and lost the very first game of the season to the team that ended up runner-up in the state championship game — Neodesha,” Criss said.
“We played them tough. Then, we went on a six-game winning streak and we lost to Central Heights at district play that prevented us from going to the playoffs. That loss to Central Heights in 2001 just sticks with me. I remember it because it kept a great football team out of the playoffs.”
During the football season, Criss was kept busy.
“I couldn’t sleep during football season, so I’d be up to 1, 2 or 3 a.m. watching film,” Criss said. “Sunday nights, the coaching staff would get together and always be planning for the next week’s game. We would usually be there from 5 to 11 o’clock. at night. So, it was a lot of hours. Basically, I didn’t have much time on the weekends.”
Humboldt has become a special place to Criss.
“Our fans our great. Humboldt is a special place because they’re always very supportive of not only their student-athletes, but their students as well,” Criss said. “They’re a community that cares, so we’ve always had strong fan support and really, really good people.”
Once he moves onto his next job, he looks forward to having more time to spend with family.
“I’ve enjoyed relaxing and that’s one of the things that I’m looking forward to at my next position,” Criss said. “I’m just excited about having more time to do some things that I’ve wanted to do.”

LOGAN WYRICK takes over as Humboldt’s football coach next season. Wyrick has been an assistant coach in college for five seasons and spent the past four at Southwestern College in Winfield.
He grew up playing football for Haviland High School about four hours west of Humboldt. In college, he played for Coffeyville for a season before transferring to Southwestern for three seasons.
Wyrick’s coaching style will be more offensive.
“I guess offense by default, since that’s what I’ve been coaching at the college. I’ve coached about every offensive position there is, that’s my expertise,” Logan said. “Being a head coach, I just consider myself a football coach and will slide into whatever fits best for me.”
Tell Wyrick, Logan’s cousin and the weights coach at Humboldt, will join the staff as an assistant. Tell is the link that brings Logan to the school. This will be Logan’s first head coaching job and is looking forward to everything about it.
“To be specific, it will be nice to have control over things and have a say on everything,” Logan said. “Honestly, getting back to small town high school football is exciting. I’m getting back to the roots, as they say. I’m probably most excited about being back at the high school level at a small school because of the community. That isn’t always the case everywhere, especially at small college football schools.”
Logan’s main objective is keep the program competitive.
“I just want us to be as successful as we can. You want to win every game and if you don’t, then you need to find something else to do,” Logan said. “But, I understand that at a small school, the talent will go up and down. So, we want to stay competitive year in and year out.”
He also wants to stay as successful as the man he’s replacing.
“As far as I can tell, they’ve been pretty successful,” Logan said. “I think I’m pretty lucky that [Criss] is still here. A lot of times, you’re coming into the job and that coach is gone. He’s taken another job or been let go. But, that’s what I’ve been doing, picking his brain a little bit. That’s an advantage for me for my first head coaching job.”