His 300th-win season marked the end of an era for longtime head high-school football coach Bruce Hanson. The head coach of the Yorktown Patriots made the decision in recent days to step down from the position he had held since 1985. Hanson will also retire as a phys-ed teacher at the Arlington school.

Coach Hanson's Impressive Career Statistics

Hanson finishes his career with an astonishing 302 victories. His 300th win came against the Centreville Wildcats this fall during week six of the regular season. Out of these wins, 272 came during his 39 seasons at Yorktown, while the other 30 were achieved when he was the head coach at Wakefield High School in the 1970s. Overall, Hanson, who is 74 years old, has coached high-school football for an incredible 52 years.The Patriots finished the season with a 6-5 record and earned a region-playoff berth, but unfortunately lost to Washington-Liberty. "You have to retire sooner or later, and after considering my state-retirement situation and everything, now seems like the best time," Hanson told ARLnow. "The program is in good shape, and it's time for someone else to take over. I feel good about this decision."Often using a wing-T offense or its variations, Hanson's Yorktown teams created envy and fear among opponents. They won 12 district championships, two regional crowns, and finished second in the region four times. The first region title came in his fourth season at Yorktown, with Chris Williams playing on the team. Williams is now the head golf coach at Yorktown and the longtime announcer at Patriots' home varsity football games. He also coached football under Hanson."The man is an institution, and I thought he'd outlast me as a head coach," said W-L head coach Josh Shapiro, who has been coaching against Hanson's teams since 2007. "He's brilliant. His teams are always tough to prepare for because he takes that base wing-T offense and makes in-game adjustments and formations to fit his personnel."Yorktown director of student activities Mike Krulfeld said the process to choose Hanson's replacement will soon begin, with an application deadline of Dec. 6. He hopes to have a successor chosen in early January."Coach Hanson is a legend at Yorktown and in the Arlington County sports community," Krulfeld told ARLnow. "His modesty, positivity, and leadership have earned him the respect of all those he comes in contact with."Krulfeld said that Hanson's former players often come back to coach at Yorktown, and many spectators at games are parents of players who have moved across the country but still support Yorktown football due to the culture Hanson developed. He also emphasized that Hanson always appreciated the four-year program players as much as the star players."His retirement will leave a large gap in our athletic program, and we are committed to continuing the legacy of hard work, discipline, respect, and creating a team culture where everyone has a place and wants to be involved," Krulfeld said.Hanson graduated from Springbrook High School in Montgomery County, Md. in 1968 and then played football at the College of William and Mary, graduating in 1972. He applied for his first high-school coaching job as a football assistant at Arlington's private Bishop O'Connell High School but wasn't hired. However, he soon got a job at Wakefield and began his high-school coaching career at the age of 22.NOTES: When the 2024 campaign began, there were only seven coaches listed with 300 wins in the Virginia High School League public-school football record-book section. Former Hampton Crabbers' coach Mike Smith has the most, with 506 victories. Former Stone Bridge head coach Mickey Thompson (336 career wins) is the only VHSL coach in the Northern Virginia area with more wins than Hanson on that list.About the AuthorDave Facinoli grew up in Prince George’s County, Md. and attended Friendly High School. After attending Prince’s George Community College and James Madison University, where he covered sports on both college papers, he launched a local newspaper career that included roles as the sports editor of the Alexandria Gazette, the Arlington Sun Gazette and GazetteLeader, and other local papers.