The Platte County R-3 School Board unanimously voted to approve Derek Yost as the next head football coach during a special meeting Tuesday night. He becomes just the 20th known person to hold that position in the program’s history, which dates back to 1907, and just the third since 1988.
Yost takes over at Platte County on the heels of lengthy successful tenures for Chip Sherman (1988-2007) and Bill Utz (2008-2025). The Pirates go into next season with the longest active winning streak in the state, having won 28 in a row while collecting back-to-back undefeated Class 5 state championships in 2024 and 2025.
Utz unexpectedly announced his intention to retire from Platte County and take the head football coaching job at Lansing (Kansas).
Yost, 34, most recently served as a defensive assistant coach in charge of the secondary. He joined Utz’s staff in 2016 and has also spent time as defensive pass game coordinator and special teams coordinator.
The 10 years with Yost on staff have been some of the most successful in program history with Platte County reaching the state semifinals five times, advancing to the Class 4 state championship game in 2019 and then making the trip in Class 5 in 2020, 2024, and 2025. The Pirates also won three consecutive Class 3A/3 titles under Sherman from 2000-2002 as the start of a 52-game winning streak that still stands as the second-longest in state history.
Utz accrued a 158-62 record in 18 years, while Sherman holds the program record for wins, going 191-37 over 20 seasons.
Yost played football at Savannah High School and later graduated from Missouri State University. He spent two years coaching at Savannah before coming to Platte County in 2016.
In addition to a new head coach, Platte County must also replace long-time coordinators Jeff Humburg (offense) and Eric Mitchell (defense) with both announcing intentions to retire before this past season. The Pirates open next season at home against Winnetonka.
