The 2026 Coach of the Year is Elisabeth Elliot of Herrin High School Flags.

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Our 2026 Coach of the Year, along with team members, starts the season off each year by making a vision board. Every month, the team revisits the vision board to ensure that goals are met or are at least being worked on. Elisabeth makes sure to emphasize the importance of setting goals and working toward them because that is an attribute that is used in every aspect of life. She emphasizes the importance of accountability, responsibility, and hard work -- regardless of what the task at hand is. As a result, the team members have gained confidence, grown their skills, enhanced their abilities, and achieved many goals year after year. This has resulted in huge success for the team, both on and off the performance floor.
 

Elisabeth is currently in her 12th year as head coach. Since her first year coaching, her team has competed at the state level every season. The team has earned 28 state titles in that time (including soloists), and of those, 15 are state championship titles. Under her leadership, the interest in the program and the amount of team members has grown.  

Elisabeth encourages her team to volunteer with her as much as possible. Whether it's painting her school's playground, cleaning up the bleachers after games, setting up and working local events, writing words of affirmation on the entrance way of the school or donating food to first responders, she is there and encouraging her team to join her.
 

The team has also gained recognition from local news outlets showcasing their talents and success. They are definitely the talk of the town as of late.
 

Elisabeth has dedicated her life to serving others one way or another. She is a sixth grade special education teacher and is an active member of her church. She is a strong supporter of IDTA, and is one of our contest hosts. She is always in attendance at our annual coaches’ seminar and has played an important part in setting the bar for expectations for the flag categories in our organization. 
 

To quote one of her nominators:  "This coach is selfless, motivated, determined, uplifting, and encouraging.”  In fact, she loves this sport so much that she got a tattoo in her team's honor. Every aspect of her life is centered around this team's success, but she does not coach for the recognition or money. She does it for the impact on the students.