SM East football coach Chip Sherman just led the Lancers to the best season in school history — and today he and the team will get a very special recognition as a result.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced last week that Sherman had been named Chiefs High School Coach of the Year. Kearney High School coach Greg Jones took home the honors on the Missouri side of the line. In their announcement, the Chiefs said, “Sherman has led the Shawnee Mission East program to a renaissance as they are now recognized as one of the best teams in the metropolitan area.”

The award carries with it a $1,000 grant made to SM East on behalf of the Chiefs Children’s Fund, as well as a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the New Arrowhead stadium for Sherman and the entire team as part of a special recognition ceremony today.

We’ll try to post some shots of the team’s visit to Arrowhead if we can track some down.

Check out the full press release on the award after the jump.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced that Kearney High School Coach Greg Jones and Shawnee Mission East High School Coach Chip Sherman have been named the Missouri and Kansas Chiefs High School Coach of the Year, respectively. As a result, each of the winning schools will receive a $1,000 grant on behalf of the Chiefs Children’s Fund. Jones and Sherman were selected following a two-week balloting process that was held exclusively on kcchiefs.com.

Jones and Sherman will each be invited along with their entire team to Arrowhead Stadium for a special recognition ceremony on Tuesday, November 30. During that visit, both coaches will be officially recognized for their stellar seasons. Additionally, the Bulldog and Lancer squads will each take an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of New Arrowhead and have the chance to mingle with Chiefs players past and present.

The 2010 High School Coach of the Year program is a joint initiative of the Kansas City Chiefs and the National Football League. This program is designed to recognize and reward Kansas City area high school coaches for superior overall performance during their football season. The Chiefs Coach of the Year program is also meant to honor individuals who are shaping today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders.

Under Jones’ leadership, the Bulldogs finished the regular season with a perfect record through nine contests. Kearney went on to defeat Savannah in the first round of the state playoffs, 17-9. In the second round, Jones and the Bulldogs continued their winning ways with a 49-20 victory, this time against Platte County. However, the Bulldogs were unable to advance through the next round. Still, Jones led the Kearney Bulldogs to an 11-1 overall record this season.

Coach Chip Sherman and the Lancers had a season to remember. Sherman led the Lancers to the Kansas 6A, District 2 title and a share of the Sunflower League Championship. Shawnee Mission East finished the regular season with a lone defeat entering the playoffs. Sherman’s Lancers were battled tested going into the first round, but fell to Olathe South, 28-24. Still, Sherman has led the Shawnee Mission East program to a renaissance as they are now recognized as one of the best teams in the metropolitan area.

The finalists for the Chiefs Coach of the Year award represent the 16 individuals, eight from Missouri and eight from Kansas, which took home this season’s Chiefs High School Coach of the Week accolade. Weekly, the team recognized a coach on each side of the state line that set a benchmark among their profession. As a result, they received a football autographed by Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley, a $500 grant for their school, limited edition “Chiefs Coach of the Week” shirts for the entire team, and a certificate of recognition. It was all presented to the winning coaches each week at practice by former Chiefs LB Gary Spani, who currently serves as the team’s Director of Special Events.

The 2009 winners of the Chiefs High School Coach award were Fort Osage’s Ryan Schartz and Bishop Miege’s Tim Grunhard.