January 21st, 2025 10:00am
By Tim Flynn, Colorado School of Mines sports information
GOLDEN, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines head football coach Pete Sterbick has resigned to accept another opportunity in college football.
Special teams coordinator and running backs coach Yon Boone will serve as the Orediggers' interim head coach while a search is conducted to replace Sterbick.
"I would like to thank Pete Sterbick for serving first as our offensive coordinator and then as our head coach for the past six years," said Director of Athletics David Hansburg. "Pete's contributions have been invaluable to Mines Football. We wish him and his family all the best. Mines Football has developed an unrivaled culture that each coach and player has added to over the years. We look forward to finding our next head coach who will add to that tradition."
Sterbick spent two seasons as the Orediggers' head coach and the previous four years as the team's offensive coordinator. The architect of some of the most explosive offenses in NCAA Division II, Sterbick was the 2023 AFCA Regional Head Coach of the Year and the NFFCC Colorado Coach of the Year after leading Mines to its second consecutive national championship game appearance. He went 22-4 in charge of the Orediggers including the 2023 RMAC and NCAA Super Region 4 championships, and the program record for wins at 14 that season.
"I have loved being at Mines for the past six years, this is truly an incredible place," Sterbick said. "The players here make being the head coach at Mines special, and I know whoever is hired as the next head coach will do a great job leading them."
As offensive coordinator, Sterbick developed 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy winner John Matocha and 2021 finalist Michael Zeman, and was named the 2022 FootballScoop Coordinator of the Year after leading the nation in scoring (44.6 ppg) and red zone offense (97%). Mines had 16 offensive all-American selections during Sterbick's six seasons in Golden.
Boone will take over as the interim head coach, now in his second tenure with the Orediggers. This past season the Orediggers' special teams shined, leading the nation in net punting and ranking 10th in kickoff returns while earning all-RMAC honorees at punter, kicker, and long snapper. His running back stable produced NCAA D-II's #15 rushing offense led by all-RMAC selection Landon Walker. Boone returned to Mines this past fall after four seasons at Murray State; prior to that, he was the Orediggers' defensive backs coach in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.