By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

In 1986, Cliff Shank started a radio station in Hutchinson. Since he was little, Chris Shank, Cliff's son, had thought about returning home and helping run the family business. In college, Shank originally was going to earn a broadcasting degree. But he missed football, and decided to teach and coach first.

"That's when I kind of decided, 'OK, I will go teach for awhile,' " Shank said. "I will see when it starts coming to the time where Dad might think about retiring and selling out, then I can kind of re-evaluate and see, 'OK, do I want to go back to it?' "

Shank was a head coach at two schools, Linn and Hill City, for eight seasons and collected a 39-32 record. For the past six years, Shank turned around Hill City, a program that had never made an appearance in the state playoffs. Shank, known for his genial personality and his offense that heavily focused on the quarterback running the ball, went 33-26 with the Ringnecks.

He made the playoffs in 2009 and went 11-2 and earned Eight-Man, Division I runner-up honors in 2010.

In the fall, though, Shank decided to return home. He resigned from Hill City, told his players late last week, will teach and coach the rest of the school year and then move south.

Cliff's right-hand man just retired and Shank will take over that position as vice president. In addition to coaching football, Shank taught, served as athletic director, and coached golf for the Ringnecks.

"I have thought about it for a long time, but I didn't know when the day would actually come," Shank said at last week's Mid-Continent League basketball tournament. "You kind of have to pick the right time. There have been other times that I have thought about going back, but they just didn't seem the right time."

"It's a really good time to come back, because if I didn't come back now, Dad would have to hire somebody to take his (right-hand man's) spot," Shank added.

Hill City has just started the process to replace Shank. Principal Alan Stein said assistants Vince Walker and Kyle Jilka will stay on staff. Walker was head coach of the Ringnecks in 2000 and '01, but didn't win any games -- part of a long-struggling stretch for the football program.

"This has been in the long range plans for him and his family to go down and help with the family business," Stein said. "It was one of those things where you just didn't know when it was going to happen.

"I wish him well," he added. "I hope that things go well for them and hopefully we can find somebody to come in and fill his shoes, which will be kind of tough, but hopefully we can find somebody to do that."

When Shank first took over Hill City, the Ringnecks had no winning seasons from 1998-2005. Shank went 5-13 in his first two seasons before the program went to Eight-Man, Division I. In 2008, Hill City went 6-3 in its first season of eight-man football. In 2009, the Ringnecks collected a state appearance with a 7-3 record.

"He had the kids playing hard and they enjoyed what they were doing when they were on the field," Stein said. "It was just fun to go to a Friday night football game."

The following season, Hill City enjoyed its run to the state title game and set multiple school records, including wins (11-2) and scoring offense (572). Shank earned HDN Coach of the Year honors. Senior quarterback Reggie Jordan earned a Shrine Bowl nomination after he rushed for 2,535 yards. Shank was pleased to turn around the program, but more than anything, he was happy to make an impact. Notably, Shank helped fullback/lineman Tyler Bess, a player who had personal conflict earlier in his life. Bess improved, was a senior on the 2010 team and earned all-state honors.

"That's the most rewarding thing about the job is just knowing that you helped some people along the way," Shank said. "If you help people on this earth, that's what it's all about in the end."

This past season, Hill City had a young team and slipped back to 4-5. Shank kept his move a secret, though, until last week.

"It's always hard leaving any place," Shank said.

"You do get really attached to a lot of people in the town and you make a lot of friends and there is a lot of people who have done a lot to help you along the way. Leaving behind kids, it's always hard. ... That's the thing I will miss about coaching is the relationship with kids."