West De Pere football seeks new leader after Chris Greisen steps down
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
A month after winning the WIAA Division 2 state football championship, West De Pere is looking for a new leader.
Phantoms coach Chris Greisen has informed his players and their families that he is stepping down after six years with the program.
“It is customary for me at the end of each season to step back and reflect on the season, what went well, what I could have done better and how my coaching commitment affects my family,” Greisen wrote. “Above our kitchen table is a sign that reads, ‘Faith. Family. Football.’ It’s a simple reminder for me to keep my priorities in order. Next fall, our six children will live in four different states. In order to make sure I can, as their father, be present and available for all of them, I am submitting my resignation as head football coach at West De Pere.
“It has been an honor to lead the West De Pere football program and work alongside our coaches, who are such great men, to not only lead our players to victory on the field, but more importantly, to help form them into great young men, so that in the future they will be great husbands and fathers. I want to thank West De Pere for this opportunity to coach these young men.”
Greisen went 53-15 in six seasons and led the Phantoms to the D2 state title game two times. They captured each of the last two Fox River Classic Conference-North championships.
West De Pere won 11 or more games in three of the past four seasons, including going 14-0 in 2025.
His final season did include a contentious incident during the Phantoms’ 35-34 state semifinal win over Mequon Homestead in November.
After Homestead scored a touchdown in the third quarter, Greisen had a physical altercation with two of his defensive players in plain view of the crowd, including a shove of one of the players. Greisen acknowledged the situation a few days before the state title game and indicated it had been resolved.
West De Pere beat Green Bay Notre Dame 28-14 for the program’s third state championship.
Greisen had the opportunity to coach his son, Patrick, who will graduate as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in state history and earned a scholarship to South Dakota.
His other son, Andrew, was a sophomore on the team this season and has the chance to earn the starting quarterback job in 2026.
Greisen served two stints as an assistant at Green Bay Notre Dame, was an assistant at Green Bay Southwest and spent four seasons at Freedom before landing his first head coaching job at West De Pere as the replacement for Jack Batten.
It remains to be seen what direction West De Pere goes with its next coach, but it has at least two coaches on staff that would make sense if they want the job.
The list includes defensive coordinator and former Phantoms standout Kegan Wirtz, who is a science teacher at West De Pere.
He was a starting safety on the West De Pere teams that won back-to-back D3 state titles in 2011 and 2012 before playing at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he developed into a full-time starter by his junior season.
Offensive line coach Matt Hansen also would be a worthy candidate. The St. Norbert College graduate is an English teacher at West De Pere.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: West De Pere football coach Chris Greisen steps down after six seasons
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos