There’s been a lot of continuity in the Ankeny boys’ soccer program.
That will still be the case with the hiring of the Hawks’ new head coach.
Assistant coach Jake Potratz has been named the replacement for Trevor Fuccio, who resigned from the position after guiding Ankeny to a 28-27-3 record over the last three seasons.
“I’m super excited about the opportunity to take over the head coaching job,” said Potratz.
Like Potratz, Fuccio was previously an assistant coach at Ankeny. He was also promoted to head coach following the departure of Marcus Varnum.
Varnum, Fuccio and Potratz are all assistant coaches at Simpson College under head coach Rick Isaacson, who previously coached at Ankeny as well.
“I think it should be a smooth transition for myself, the boys, and the program as a whole,” Potratz said. “Trevor did a fantastic job leading the way the last few years, and I was lucky enough to be a part of it and learn from him along the way. I saw eye-to-eye with him on a lot of things so I plan to run the program in a similar fashion to him.
“From a culture standpoint, we both took pride in a team with a high work ethic, high IQ and accountability. Those things will remain true. Tactically, we built our team and identity from the back up. So a focus on strong defensive principles and structure will be something our boys are used to, and I will continue to prioritize. Overall, the day-to-day structure and our identity will be very similar,” he added.
Fuccio led Ankeny to a 23-15-2 record and a pair of state tournament berths in his first two seasons. The Hawks advanced to the Class 4A semifinals in 2025.
“I want to replicate the success we’ve had under Trevor, and his influence on both myself and the program will carry over quite a bit,” Potratz said. “The boys know what that’s like and having those connections with them myself should make the transition fairly smooth for us all. I’ll be learning more about the administrative side of the job–scheduling, planning, logistics–and that will add more to my plate than in previous years. But that won’t change the overall identity of the program.”
Ankeny is coming off a 5-12-1 season last spring, when the Hawks fielded a young and inexperienced squad.
“There isn’t much from a program standpoint that needs immediate change,” Potratz said. “However, with returning a team that’s still fairly young I want my focus to be on their development in the offseason. We’ve done a good job in previous years of running a good offseason program with our strength and conditioning and playing opportunities, but I want to increase the focus on that as I transition in. We’ve lost a lot of talent and experience over the last few years, and the boys that are returning know how challenging our schedule will be. An area we struggled in a bit last season was in the physical side of the game.
“So, an increased focus in the development of our strength and physicality will be priority number one for me as I take over and get things rolling here this offseason,” he added.