Coach Benedetto huddles up with his team during a time out. Benedetto has been head football coach at West Central for the past two seasons and will now lead the Jefferson High School football team in Sioux Falls next fall. (Photo/Jen Swanson) 

Sara Stadem | Editor 

After two successful years as a West Central Trojan teacher and coach, head football coach Vincent Benedetto will be moving on to a new school. 

In December, it was announced that Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls had hired their first head coach for their new school and it was West Central’s Benedetto. Benedetto will start with Jefferson High School for the 2021-22 school year, teaching Social Studies and running the football program as head coach.

Benedetto, originally from Chicago, Illinois, attended college at South Dakota State University (SDSU) from 2009-13, playing football for the Jackrabbits for five years. After graduation, he decided to stay in South Dakota after meeting his now wife, Kendra, who is a South Dakota native. 

While a graduate assistant at SDSU, Benedetto helped coach the Jackrabbits. After college, he moved on to assistant football coach at Tea Area and then offensive line coach for Roosevelt High School. 

Even though Benedetto was only at West Central for two years, according to West Central activities director Andrea Johnson, he made an impact on the students. “Coach Benedetto brought discipline, leadership, integrity and accountability to the football program and the classroom,” stated Johnson. She continued, “Because of his dedication and determination, the kids wanted to work harder to be better. Students took ownership of the team including their actions both on and off the field.”   

Johnson also explained that Coach Benedetto is the type of coach that strives to connect with each student on an individual level which helps students to improve. “Not only does he want to push them and train them to be better football players, but he wants to help make them better people. Teenagers always need a positive role model and Coach Benedetto is one of the best!” Johnson stated. 

Coach Benedetto indicated it was a very hard decision to leave West Central. However, the idea of starting a new program was a strong factor in his decision. “I think the opportunity to start a program from scratch was something I knew was never going to happen again as long as we lived in South Dakota,” stated Benedetto. He continued, “I was really excited about that opportunity and with who the administration was going to be made me interested in the job.” 

When asked what made Coach Benedetto the right fit for the new school, Jefferson High School Principal Daniel Conrad stated, “His (Benedetto) passion for the education profession, his ability to build a positive team culture and his knowledge of the game make him the perfect choice to lead the Jefferson High School Football Program.” 

Conrad also stated, “Vince brings experience as a head coach and a player to Jefferson High School. His background of coaching at the college level, coaching at the high school level and learning from successful head coaches has prepared him to build a culture of excellence at Jefferson High School.” He continued, “His vision, outstanding leadership in the classroom, ability to build relationships and develop students to excel on and off the field, along with his past experience in Sioux Falls School District, makes Mr. Benedetto an excellent fit for Jefferson High School.” 

Coach Benedetto is looking forward to many aspects of his new school but the firsts of everything stands out the most. “I’m excited about a lot of things but mostly the idea of the firsts. It’s just the fact that we get to do the first together… first meeting, first practice, first game,” Benedetto stated. He continued, “We get to do the first of everything. Everything will be built based on us and I am excited about the responsibility and challenges that it will bring.” 

He leaves West Central with a 10-12 record in his two seasons at West Central with many memorable highlights that he won’t soon forget. According to Benedetto, some of his best memories are based on big wins and sliding into the huddle after the games. 

“I think the win against Dell Rapids my first year in the first round of playoffs was a huge highlight. We had such a season and we were 3-6,” he explained. Benedetto continued, “We had lost a lot of close games and to beat the number one seed in the first round of playoffs was pretty cool. The kids didn’t give up, they kept playing hard.” 

Benedetto also sees this past football season as a big highlight. “The run we got on at the end of this past year was pretty amazing. We had beat teams that we hadn’t done in a while like Madison and then beating Dell Rapids again in the playoffs.” 

The Madison victory was also the creator of the infamous “slide into the huddle” after a big win. Benedetto explained that the West Central football team hadn’t beat Madison for five years. His players came to him early on and told him they wanted to beat Madison in their high school career; they set it as one of their goals for the season. Benedetto stated, “So, after we beat Madison, I ran and slid into the huddle after we won the game and it became a thing. My wife does a great job of getting the dirt and grass out of my clothes!”

Johnson also indicated that she would miss Coach Benedetto’s slide into the huddle when asked what she will miss most about him. She stated, “His slide into the huddle after a big win… this was one way that Coach Benedetto showed the students that he was a real person who experienced the same happiness and disappointment that they all experience.” She continued, “The slide stood for another victory and another step closer to achieving their team goals.” 

Despite all of the excitement for Coach Benedetto, there are also factors that made this move a tough decision to make. “The biggest hesitation I had about taking this job was that I wasn’t going to get to coach these kids (at West Central) anymore. That meeting I had to tell the kids that I took the job was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I’ve built relationships with the kids. You have a relationship on and off the field and the kids have worked so hard,” Benedetto stated. He continued, “The program is in the right direction and that isn’t because of what I’ve done, it’s how hard they have worked. They will hire the right coach and will be great because of how hard the kids work. They have done everything I have ever asked of them which made my job really easy and fun. The biggest thing is how hard it is to leave these kids at West Central.”