Grand Meadow Superlarks head football coach Gary Sloan to step down after 29 seasons

Grand Meadow Superlarks head football coach Gary Sloan has announced that he is stepping down after a hugely successful 29-year career as the head coach of the Larks.

Sloan first became head coach at Grand Meadow in 1993 after first starting as junior varsity coach in 1985 under the tutelage of then-head coach Jerry Reker.  The Superlarks amassed a total of 230 wins against 84 losses and made a total of eight state tournament appearances during Sloan’s tenure, including four straight state 9-Man titles in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The title game run for Grand Meadow started in 2012 when the squad claimed the section title with a 25-6 win over Spring Grove, which avenged a 22-20 regular-season loss to the Lions.  The Larks then defeated Mountain Lake Area 34-20 and South Ridge 61-6 before falling in the title game to Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 40-22.  Sloan would coach the Superlarks to a 13-1 record in 2013, cumulating with a 28-6 win over Underwood in the Prep Bowl.  Grand Meadow would finish 2014 unbeaten at 14-0 with a 48-0 whitewashing of Edgerton in the Prep Bowl at then-TCF Bank Stadium.  The playoff run that year for the Larks was highlighted by the fact that the squad gave up only six points to Glenville-Emmons in their first section playoff game, then strung together five straight shutouts on their way to the title.

Grand Meadow was unbeaten again in 2015 under Sloan’s tutelage as the Superlarks again defeated Underwood in the Prep Bowl 34-20 at TCF Bank Stadium, and the Larks were again unbeaten at 14-0 in 2016 as they claimed the 9-Man title that year with a 41-21 win over Cleveland in the Prep Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium.