Hickman and Rock Bridge welcome new head football coaches

Van Vanatta is the new football coach at Rock Bridge High School while Trevor Rubly will be the next head coach at Hickman High School, Columbia Public Schools announced on Wednesday. Vanatta comes from Hazelwood Central, where he was the head coach since 2010. He replaces interim head coach Joe Collier. Prior to his time at Hazelwood Central, Vanatta was also the head baseball coach at Central Methodist University and was also an assistant for Central Methodist football. In addition to his ties to Mid-Missouri, Vanatta is familiar with Columbia Public Schools, having coached against Rock Bridge and Hickman in his time with the Hawks.
Rubly comes from Enid, Oklahoma where he is an assistant head coach at Enid High School. The new Kewpies head coach replaces interim coach Devin Brown. Rubly is a former Mizzou Football graduate assistant and also has coaching experience at Central Missouri and Warrensburg High School. He will take over a struggling Kewpies program that has won two games in the last three season.
“We are excited to welcome two new coaches to our CPS family,” Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said in a statement. “Both will bring positive coaching experience to our schools and continue the work to build a strong community among our students, families, faculty and staff.”