Greg Oder, Joel Applebee win high school coaching awards from the Chiefs

A pair of local high school football coaches were honored by the Chiefs on Wednesday.

The Chiefs announced that Blue Springs South’s Greg Oder was the 2015 Missouri High School Coach of the Year, while Mill Valley’s Joel Applebee was the Kansas High School Coach of the Year.

According to a news release, the High School Coach of the Year program is a joint initiative of the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL, and “it is designed to recognize and reward Kansas City area high school coaches who are shaping today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders. This includes coaches that champion philosophies which advance and promote player health and safety.”

Applebee and Oder will receive trophies and a certificate recognizing their selection at a ceremony before the Chiefs play the Browns at Arrowhead Stadium. Both schools will receive a grant of $1,775 from the Hunt Family Foundation designated for player health and safety equipment and/or education.

Under Oder, Blue Springs South won the Class 6 Missouri state championship and finished with a 14-0 record.

“I am honored to be selected by the Chiefs and the fellow weekly award winners,” Oder said in a news release. “While I accept this award, the credit really goes to my 13 assistant coaches and all the players who worked hard from the offseason until the final whistle of the state championship game. Everything we have achieved this year is truly a team effort and not the work of just one person.”

Mill Valley won the Kansas 5A state title, and lost just one game.

“I would like to thank the Chiefs organization and the NFL for this great honor,” Applebee said in a news release. “The honor is a direct reflection of our assistant coaches on staff, our high school administration and the great community that is Mill Valley.”

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Greg Oder, Joel Applebee win high school coaching awards from the Chiefs."