Meet the Head Coaches

Matt Conroy & Mike Lewis

Matt & Mike have been coaching the QC Knights together for the last several years. It began with Flag football and has now moved on to running their tackle program. Both Matt and Mike like hard work and dedication by their players. What the players give them, they give in return. Both playing D1 college football and one moving on to the NFL and playing in the NFL for 9 years, their playing experience together makes them quite the team. They both love this sport and have so much passion in teaching and coaching what they know. 

Preston Espinosa

My name is COACH PRESTON and I will have the privilege of coaching your players for the upcoming season. I am extremely excited to be a part of this organization and I am looking forward to coaching and growing with with all of our players. I have been coaching for approximately 8 years. This has consisted of baseball, flag football, and tackle football.  I also played Football while growing up in North Carolina. After high school, I joined the Army where I served as an infantryman for a little over 5 years. My time playing football, being in the Army, and coaching have shown me that team work and working as one unit is critical to success. This will be the approach I bring to the team. I can also promise I will lead with structure and integrity in all aspects of the game.

Les Spaggins 

Hi my name is Les Spraggins. I am the head coach for the Queen Creek Knights 11U team. I wanted to introduce myself and give you a brief synopsis of myself. I grew up and went to school in Austin, Texas where football is almost a religion itself. I played pop warner football before playing for my middle school and high school teams. I lettered with my high school football team as a freshman and played defensive end and tight end through my senior year. During my senior year, I had an injury to my left knee that ended my football career. Even though I left football, football never left me. Although I have knowledge of every position on the field, I feel that the games are won and lost by our lineman. I will always believe that the team needs to be built with the offensive and defensive line first. 

I moved to Arizona from Austin, Texas in 1997 for work. In January of 1998, I began my career in law enforcement with the Mesa Police Department. For the past eighteen of my twenty-six years with Mesa Police Department, I have been assigned to the traffic unit where I get to ride a police motorcycle and keep the roadways safe.  In 2003, I met and fell in love with my wife Heather. Heather and I were married in 2008 moved to Queen Creek. Heather and I were blessed with three boys Hayden 14, Lawson, 13, and Holton 11. A little-known fact about me is that I am a huge Texas Longhorn fanatic. I may or may not have an entire room dedicated to my love for the Longhorns. 

With my passion for football still present, I started coaching flag football for my sons in 2014. I started the Longhorns Football team which play in the San Tan Youth Football League. During our time at STYFL, the Longhorns won the Div. 1, Div. 2, and Div. 3 championships eight years and were runner up two years. Although, we won many championships, I never based my success as a coach on wins and losses. Instead, I based my success on the amount of return players I had from the year before. I have a strong following of players that I have had the privilege of coaching for years. We as a team have played at a highly competitive level at Primetime in Gilbert and Youth 360 in San Tan Valley. 

As my oldest son aged out of flag, I began coaching tackle football with STYFL. I coached Div. 5 football as the head coach for the Cardinals. After the opening of Crismon Jr. High School, and learning of the Queen Creek Knights affiliation with Crismon, I left STYFL’s tackle program for the QC Knights. Last year, I was an assistant coach for the 10U team and believe in this team and its future. 

My philosophy as a coach is to be firm but fair. I am not one to yell directly at player for missed assignments. I believe that in youth sports the message can be delivered in a calm manner so the athlete learns how to succeed instead of fearing to fail.  Ultimately, my goal is not only to win games and make exceptional athletes out of my team, but most of all to turn our players into exceptional human beings.

Jay Hackett 

Coach Jay is excited to come lead our youngest team this fall 2024. With plenty of football playing experience, including playing for Montana State University in College, he brings the Knights a lot of knowledge and passion to the game. Coach Jay wants to establish the love for the game at this young age and teaching the basic fundamentals of the game. His goal is to develop and mentor this team while keeping them together until high school.