Earlier this week, Eli Reinhart announced his resignation after one season leading a Texas high school football program, noting he had his sights on on offensive coordinator job at the college level.

Considered widely as a rising star in the coaching community for his offensive acumen, Reinhart recently completed his first year as a head coach leading the Hutto Hippos (TX) program, leading them to a 9-3 season and a share of the district title. The success led to him earning the coveted honor of being named to Dave Campbell’s Top 10 first year Texas High School head coaches.

Hutto Superintendent Jeni Neatherlin commented on Reinhart’s departure via social media in sharing, ‘We saw the potential in Coach Reinhart to lead our program & like we knew, he did a wonderful job, when you hire rockstars people are always trying to steal them. I understand this. We wish him well in collegiate world! We are now focused on getting our next rockstar. More details coming soon. Let’s go Hippos!”

Reinhart led the program to their most wins since 2019, their first playoff win at the 6A level, and earned All District Co-Coach of the Year honors for his work at Hutto, where he also served as boys athletic coordinator. His departure means the Hippos pivot to their fourth head coach in six seasons. 

So, where is he heading? Well, he’s set to return to his roots in Michigan, where the young star will get a second opportunity to call an offense in the toughest Division II league in the country.

Sources share with FootballScoop that Reinhart will be the new offensive coordinator at Division II national power Grand Valley State (D-II – MI), who are entering their fourth season under head coach Scott Wooster. Under Wooster, the Lakers are 29-7 overall and just missed the playoffs this year after a 7-3 finish after back-to-back 11-2 campaigns.

An official announcement on his hire is expected to come at some point today. Reinhart will also coach the team’s quarterbacks.

Reinhart takes over the offense in Allendale for Ian Shoemaker, the former Hawaii offensive coordinator who spent the past two seasons with the Lakers program before departing for an FCS coordinator opportunity at Idaho.

A graduate of longtime GLIAC rival Saginaw Valley State (D-II – MI, where he earned a degree in Supply Chain Management, Reinhart left his position coaching the inside receivers at Division II power Ferris State (D-II – MI) to follow Ryan Brady as the team’s offensive coordinator with the Cardinals back 2019.

Adopted at a young age, Eli’s father, Dennis, was a legendary head coach in the small Michigan community of Montrose, where he led the program for nearly three decades accumulating more than 200 wins and capturing state titles in 1998 and 2002. Eli was four-years old at the time of that first state title, and like a lot of kids of coaches, he would go on to serve as water boy and ball boy for the program before eventually earning a whistle as offensive coordinator for the Montrose program from 2013-17 before joining leaving to join the Ferris State staff under former Montrose head coach Tony Annese.

Reinhart would leave college football and move to Texas for the opportunity to coach in the prep ranks, serving as the offensive coordinator at North Crowley HS (TX) for their run to the 2024 Class 6A Division I state title. That team finished the season considered among the top three high school football teams in the country. 

At GVSU, Reinhart joins a staff looking to get back to their dominant ways of the early 2000s, when they brought home national titles in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006.