Johnny Weil accepts Head Rodeo Coach position

Edna, Kansas, native Johnny Weil has accepted the head rodeo coach position at Coffeyville Community College and begins the task of rebuilding a program that went on hiatus for a year following the July 2007 flood that devastated the rodeo arena at Walter Johnson Park in Coffeyville.

“I’m looking at building the program from the ground up,” said Weil.  “We may have a couple of people carrying over the previous rodeo team, but for the most part it will be new and different.”

“They got the rodeo scheduled for Coffeyville in August and the fairgrounds will be back in shape, so we’ll be using the fairgrounds again and using the arena out there for practice,” said Weil.

Coffeyville Community College started the rodeo program in 2005 and fielded a team for two years before the flood forced a year hiatus.  The previous teams were coached by C.W. Tollefson who is now coaching at Sheridan College in Wyoming.

Johnny Weil
 

Although Weil is new to coaching, he is not new to the sport at the college level.  Weil, a 1992 graduate of Labette County High School, competed for two years at Fort Scott Community College and for two additional years at Kansas State University.  Weil graduated from KSU in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Feed Science and Management.

“I calf roped and team roped at Fort Scott and I just calf roped at K-State,” said Weil.  “At K-State as a junior and senior I was in the top ten both years in calf roping.”

Weil has also been named American Cowboys Rodeo Association 1995 Calf Roping Rookie of the Year, and has been a three time finalist in the event: 1995, 1996, and 2006.

He was a calf roping finalist in 2001 and 2002 in the United Rodeo Association and the 2002 Year-end Calf Roping Champion and finals average champion.  He was also the 2002 Champion Calf Roper in the Iowa Rodeo Association, four-time finalist in the United States Calf Ropers Association with the 2006 World Finals Average Championship.

Although Weil has been on the job just a few days, he has already hit the road recruiting.  “I was at Kingman High School for a rodeo, and several of the competitors there had committed already, but there’s certainly still a lot of talent out there that hasn’t,” said Weil.

Weil has already identified the type of student-athlete he wants to seek for the program at CCC.  “Top priority is someone who wants to get a college degree, wants to go to college,” said Weil.  “It won’t do me or the kid any good if all they want to do is rodeo and they come in and rodeo for me for a semester or a year and become ineligible."

“Students who have that passion to get a degree and better themselves through their education are the top priority,” said Weil.  “Of course, I like to recruit students who have been successful through the high school and other rodeo associations and are able to compete at the college level.”

While previous teams at Coffeyville were strong in bull-riding, Weil hopes to eventually build a diverse team.

“We need a well-rounded team,” said Weil.   “With roping background, I see us being heavy in the time events.  I believe bull riding can be a big event at this school.  It is certainly good to be able to recruit some talented cowboys for bareback and saddle bronc riding.  We will also be recruiting a women’s team for events including breakaway roping, barrel racing, and goat tying,” said Weil.

While recruiting will be important the next few months for Weil, other aspects of the job will be grabbing his time and attention.

“Short term, a big part of my job will be getting the facilities together, not just the practice and practice stock, but also insuring that a person who is bringing in a couple of horses from wherever have got a place to put them in - a safe place and somewhere where they won’t have to worry about their horses,” said Weil.

Prior to accepting the rodeo coach position at CCC, Weil was employed by the Bartlett Milling Company in Coffeyville as an Elevator Superintendent.  Prior to that, he worked at Davol, Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas, and for Kansas State University in Manhattan as a manager in a variety of research projects. 

Although rodeo may not have been an aspect for Weil’s professional life, rodeo remained an integral part of his personal life.

“Rodeo has always been a big part of what I do and who I am,” said Weil.  “It was like I had two careers and both were going well with the rodeo and also the professional career at the mill.”

“I felt a job like rodeo coach could combine those two careers - the professional career and the personal career - into one and I could still be able to achieve success.”

With the rodeo program essentially starting over, many scholarships are available.  “We’re four and a half months from competing,” said Weil.  “A lot of my focus are the high school seniors who have not committed or made up their mind on where they’re going to go.”

“As we go on and get into fall, I’ll continue to look at the senior class, but I will start making contact with the underclassmen in high school as well – the freshmen, sophomores and juniors.”

In two years, Weil should be able to field a team with thirty to forty student-athletes.  With tons of hard work and patience, Weil hopes to build a program students will grow athletically and academically.

“I’ve got some things working on facilities here close to town that students will be able to get a lot of practice in and be able to better themselves as a rodeo competitor - to be more competitive after they leave here than when they came,” said Weil. 

“And that goes with academics as well,” said Weil.  “I want kids to be ready to go to a four year college and be prepared to get a degree.  I want the students who come here that when they leave, they were glad they were here and know it was a good move for them.”

Head Coach Weil can be contacted at 620-251-7700, ext. 2105.  He can also be contacted via e-mail at johnnyw@coffeyville.edu.