Energized by turning teams into winners, Eckhardt takes over NV football

Skip Eckhardt said he has never taken over a winning program in more than four decades of coaching.

While that will not change at Nodaway Valley, the Hall of Fame coach is excited for the journey of trying to turn the Wolverines’ football program around.

Eckhardt was most recently at Shenandoah, where the Mustangs went 3-6 in each of his two seasons. However, Shenandoah made the playoffs both years.

After a playing career as an offensive guard at the University of Northern Iowa, Eckhardt has coached at 11 high schools. He has coached twice at his alma mater, Crestwood in Cresco, was recently an assistant coach at ADM and has had other large-school stops in the Davenport area. He even coached in the collegiate ranks at Rockford College, now known as Rockford University.

Eckhardt also has had success at smaller schools. In 1984, he led Schleswig to a state championship. He later ended a four-year stint at South Page with an 8-1 season. At South Page, he taught now-Nodaway Valley activities director Sara Honnold when she was in fourth grade. From 2011-15, he was at AGWSR, where he led the Cougars from a 1-8 record in his first season to 9-2 marks in each of his final two seasons.

Eckhardt received a message from Honnold about Nodaway Valley’s opening after Jack West announced he is leaving to take a teaching and coaching position at Logan-Magnolia. Eckhardt has grandchildren who play sports in the Des Moines area and wanted to relocate closer to them.

“I came down, met with some of the players, continued talking, they offered me, and that was it,” Eckhardt said.

Eckhardt is also excited to coach with his longtime friend Randy Schrader, another Hall of Famer with head coaching experience. Another new football coach here will be Jake Eslinger, a Prairie City-Monroe standout who played at state while in high school.

“[Coach Schrader] can take care of half of it and I know it’ll be handled,” Eckhardt said. “That’s big, too. His wife retired, they’ve got a condo in Waukee.”

Eckhardt said last week while here for meetings that getting another head coaching position is like “new breath again.”

“It’s been my motto forever — I’ve never taken over a good program,” he said. “But we’ve had a lot of good success with hard work and trusting the process. We had a meeting tonight with the gentlemen. We’re ready to hit the ground running.”

The new coach will teach middle school math and is adamant that he does not just enjoy coaching.

“If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t do it,” Eckhardt said. “It’s not just about the football part, it’s about teaching them to be good people. Hug your mother and tell her you love her, you know.”

The Wolverines released their 2026 football schedule this week on social media. They will open with a scrimmage Aug. 21 at Perry, then open the season with a non-district game in Stuart against West Central Valley. They will follow with a home game against Pekin at Central College in Pella, then host ACGC on Sept. 11, travel to AHSTW on Sept. 18, host Oakland Riverside on Sept. 25, host Southwest Valley on Oct. 2, travel to Mount Ayr on Oct. 9 and host Martensdale-St. Marys on Oct. 16.

The Wolverines finished with one win last season — a thriller against Central Decatur at home that snapped a long program losing streak.