December 2nd, 2024 4:00pm
From Arkansas Tech sports information:
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Tech Director of Athletics, Abby Davis, has announced that head football coach Kyle Shipp is stepping down from his role to pursue opportunities outside of coaching.
With the upcoming coaching transition, current defensive coordinator, Kendrick Van Ackeren, will serve as interim head coach while Tech conducts a search for its next full-time head coach.
"I want to thank Kyle Shipp for the leadership he provided our football program," remarked Davis. "A proud alum of Tech, Kyle represented what it means to be a Wonder Boy and that was evident in the culture of the program and how his players performed in all aspects of life, on the field, in the classroom and within our community. I wish Kyle nothing but the best in this next chapter in his personal life and career."
A 2007 graduate of Arkansas Tech, Shipp returned to his alma mater prior to the 2019 season first as the offensive coordinator and later was elevated to head coach. Prior to that, he had a successful five-year stint as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator at Arkansas-Monticello where his offenses were consistently in the top-third of the GAC.
"I want to first thank Steve Mullins for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of my alma mater," said Shipp. "I am grateful to the administration while I was here to have been entrusted with leading the program. I cannot express enough how thankful I am for the support I have received from friends, alumni and supporters of Wonder Boys football in that time."
In his six seasons as head coach, Shipp led the Wonder Boys on the field in competition in five seasons as the entirety of the 2020 season was not played due to COVID-19 restrictions. Shipp's first year in 2019 saw the Wonder Boys win three-straight games near the end of the season to begin the building foundation for the remainder of his tenure.
Shipp then guided the Wonder Boys to win improvements in 2021 and 2022 before matching that 2022 win total of five the past two seasons.
"I am looking forward to the next step in my personal life as I transition out from coaching for the time being. I will certainly miss the relationships I have built with coaches and players over the years, but am excited about the opportunity to have more time with my family while remaining in the River Valley."
On the field, Shipp coached a pair of All-Americans, three all-region players and 26 all-conference players. Off the field a total of 79 different players earned conference academic honors with 33 of those being multi-year honorees.
Additionally, Shipp's program also became well-known for the amount of community service they perform. This past academic year of 2023-24, the Wonder Boys football team ranked first in all of Division II football programs in community service. It was the third time under Shipp that the football program was the top DII program in community service as they did so for the 2019-20 and 2022-23 years as well. To this point of the year, the football team has already performed over 1,400 hours of community service.
In 2022, Shipp was also one of seven head coaches nominated for the prestigious Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® for his efforts in community service. That year, Shipp was one of only two DII coaches and was joined alongside by prominent Power 5 head coaches such as Jimbo Fisher (then of Texas A&M University) and Mark Stoops of the University of Kentucky.