Staley’s Lite, De Soto’s King named Chiefs high school coaches of year

Chiefs Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt won’t be the only representatives Kansas City will send to next month’s NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando.

As part of the NFL’s high school coach of the year program, a joint effort between the league and its teams, Staley football coach Phil Lite and De Soto football coach Brian King will also travel to Camping World Stadium in Florida.

The Chiefs named Lite and King their top high school football coaches of the year for Missouri and Kansas, respectively, last week. Both were honored in a pregame ceremony before the Chiefs played the Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Lite, The Star’s All-Metro football coach of the year, led Staley to a Missouri Class 5 championship in November, calling for a two-point conversion with nine seconds remaining in the game to clinch a 36-35 victory and preserve a perfect 14-0 season. It was the second state title in the program’s 10-year history.

This season was Lite’s second leading the Falcons. Staley has gone 24-3 under his direction.

King did not get the chance to play for a Class 4A-Division I title in Kansas, but he did lead De Soto to a 10-2 season and the program’s first sub-state championship game in 28 years.

The Wildcats’ only losses this season were to Bishop Miege, the eventual state champion. On average, De Soto scored 37.9 points per game and held opponents to 12.5 points per game.

De Soto was 3-15 from 2013-14, King’s first two seasons as head coach. The Wildcats have since amassed a 23-9 record.

Both schools received a $1,450 grant from the Hunt Family Foundation, which they can use to bolster player health and safety initiatives.

This story was originally published December 26, 2017 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Staley’s Lite, De Soto’s King named Chiefs high school coaches of year."