Matt Lombardi moved in the spring to Minnetonka from Maple Grove, where he was the coach for 13 seasons before resigning in March.
Lombardi is happy to be part of an ensemble cast with Minnetonka football, deferring to Skippers head coach Mark Esch, a veteran of two championship teams at Mankato West, which won the Class 4A title in 2008 and the 5A title in 2014. The Skippers play Maple Grove — Lombardi’s previous coaching gig — for the Class 6A state championship on Friday night in U.S. Bank Stadium. It would be Minnetonka’s second state title; the first came in 2004.
“He’s an unbelievable coach, and he lets me run the defense,” Lombardi said of Esch.
To learn more about Lombardi, click here to read this story on startribune.com.