GREENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) — If you had asked Jakup Sinani as a teenager where he thought he would be at 27 years old, this probably would not have made the list.

“Definitely not being a head coach of a high school program,” Sinani said.

Jakup Sinani

Yet here he is.

At 27, Sinani is the head football coach at Greendale High School, leading a program he remembers as one of the area’s best when he was growing up.

And after an 0-2 start to his first season that tested a young coach and his players almost immediately, the Panthers have ripped off four consecutive victories and entered October unbeaten in Woodland Conference play.

For Sinani, it is an opportunity he does not take for granted.

“It was a huge honor,” Sinani said. “I remember when I was growing up and getting into high school, Greendale was a powerhouse in the area. Coach Stoltz did a great job of building a program that the community rallied behind, and that is what I am planning to do in my time here as head coach.”

Greendale knows what sustained success looks like.

Longtime coach Rob Stoltz helped establish the Panthers as a perennial contender, guiding the program to 15 consecutive WIAA playoff appearances from 2005 through 2019. Greendale remained among the state’s best in 2021, going 10-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play under interim coach Jermaine Murray.

The seasons that followed were more uneven, culminating in a 2-7 finish in 2025.

Then came Sinani.

His age immediately made him stand out. A 27-year-old taking over a varsity football program is still young enough to remember what it felt like to sit in the same classrooms, weight rooms and meeting rooms his players occupy now.

Sinani believes that can be an advantage.

“I have been in their shoes not too long ago,” Sinani said. “Everything that our staff is asking them to do is something that we once did.”

But becoming a head coach so young also brought another challenge: proving he was ready.

Sinani said that pressure came less from worrying about what others thought and more from the standard he set for himself.

“I’m lucky to have a really good support system of family, friends and coaches,” he said. “I’ve leaned on them a lot this first year. I think it was more so wanting to prove to myself that I could do this.”

Long before Sinani became “Coach Sinani,” leadership was already part of who he was.

He grew up playing football, basketball and baseball, eventually becoming the starting quarterback at Oak Creek High School before continuing his football career at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Longtime friend Blake Mierow has known Sinani since childhood and competed alongside him in multiple sports.

“He was always a leader on the team and tended to be one of the better players on the team,” Mierow said.

Sinani was talented, Mierow said, but talent was never the entire story.

“He never asked others to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself,” Mierow said. “Whether it was practice, workouts or game preparation, he always led by example and put in the work alongside everyone else.”

That approach has followed Sinani into coaching.

Mierow said much of the work people do not see now comes after practices and workouts are finished, when Sinani spends his free time studying film and looking for ways to improve.

“That’s what separates him,” Mierow said. “The talent gives him a foundation, but his success as a coach comes from the work he puts in behind the scenes. He’s relentless when it comes to preparation and is always looking for ways to improve himself and help his team get better.”

The path toward coaching, however, was not always obvious to Sinani.

That changed during his junior season of college football.

An injury forced Sinani, a quarterback, to miss six games. Unable to help his team on the field, he found another way to contribute by working with a freshman quarterback in position meetings.

“When I got hurt my junior year and had to miss six games, I had to coach up the freshman quarterback in our meeting rooms,” Sinani said. “I think at that time was when I realized coaching was something that I enjoyed.”

There was also an example standing at the front of the room.

“I always enjoyed football, and in college my head coach Steve Laqua was a huge influence on me,” Sinani said. “He was able to impact so many people during my time at Minnesota State University Moorhead.”

Years later, Sinani is trying to do the same thing at Greendale.

His first season did not exactly ease him into the job.

Greendale opened against Pewaukee, a team that has since climbed to No. 1 in Division 3. The Pirates handed the Panthers a 42-7 loss on Greendale’s home field.

For someone who admits he has never handled losing particularly well, it was a difficult introduction.

“I always wanted to win in everything I did,” Sinani said. “My brother and I had a lot of intense 1-on-1 basketball games in our driveway growing up. I think we both pushed each other to be the best athletes we could be.”

Sinani laughed at how those closest to him probably viewed that competitiveness.

“I think most of my friends probably thought I was over the top,” he said. “I was super dedicated in trying to become the best athlete I could be in any sport I played.”

Mierow remembers it the same way.

Whether it was an organized game, practice or a pickup game in the backyard, Sinani wanted to win.

One childhood 2-on-2 basketball game between Sinani, his brother and friends became so intense that the brothers ended up in a screaming match after Sinani’s team lost.

Five minutes later, Mierow said, they were laughing together as if nothing had happened.

That competitiveness followed Sinani into coaching.

And after losing his debut by 35 points, his second game did not begin much better.

Greendale traveled to Waukesha South in Week 2 and entered halftime trailing 34-7.

Two games into a first season as a head coach, Sinani was staring at an 0-2 record and another lopsided loss.

The doubts came.

“Absolutely,” Sinani said when asked whether he questioned himself during that stretch. “You’ll always hear that voice of doubt in the back of your head, but I’m lucky to have a really good staff that I can lean on.”

Then something happened.

Greendale came out of the locker room and began chipping away.

The Panthers scored 36 points in the second half and turned what appeared headed for another blowout into a four-point game.

Waukesha South ultimately held on, 47-43.

Greendale had lost again.

But Sinani saw something in that loss he had not seen before.

“I think most teams would have given up,” Sinani said. “We battled that second half, and that’s when I realized the players are bought into us as coaches.”

For a team that was 0-2, that second half became the beginning of something much different.

Sinani’s message to his players was simple: People will judge you when you are at your lowest. What matters is how you respond.

Greendale also had a phrase it had been carrying since before the season began.

Find a Way.

“Our team motto this year is ‘Find a Way,’” Sinani said. “That has been the messaging all year. We could find a million excuses why we were 0-2, but that isn’t going to change anything. We just needed to find a way to get the job done.”

So they did.

Greendale traveled to West Allis Hale in Week 3, and junior quarterback Collin Lopez followed his five-touchdown performance against Waukesha South with three more scores.

The Panthers earned their first victory of the season.

Sinani earned his first as a head coach.

One win became two the following week at Whitnall. Lopez continued to produce, while junior running back Bryce Carlson rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-6 victory.

Then came homecoming.

Back in front of the Greendale community, Carlson scored three touchdowns, Lopez added two and the Panthers beat West Allis Central 41-6.

For the first time in Sinani’s tenure, Greendale was above .500.

Three straight victories became four in Week 6, when the Panthers beat South Milwaukee 42-15.

A team that walked into halftime at Waukesha South staring at a possible 0-2 start filled with two blowout losses was suddenly 4-2.

More importantly, Greendale was 4-0 in Woodland Conference play.

“We have some really good leaders on this team,” Sinani said. “They are playing for each other, and it has been really fun to watch on Friday nights.”

The turnaround has also reinforced something Sinani learned quickly in his first season: A head coach cannot expect everything to follow the plan.

“Everything isn’t going to go the way you plan things,” Sinani said. “That’s where I am lucky enough to have a really good staff where we all can bounce ideas off each other of what’s working and what changes need to be made.”

To Mierow, the person standing on Greendale’s sideline every Friday still looks a lot like the kid he grew up alongside.

“When I watch him coach now, I still see the same competitiveness he had when we were kids,” Mierow said. “I also see the pure joy he gets from being part of a sport he has always loved. The roles may have changed from player to coach, but his passion for the game is still exactly the same.”

Mierow has another story that says even more about his longtime friend.

About five years ago, Mierow was hunting by himself when he took a shot at the kind of buck he had dreamed about getting. He climbed down from his stand but could not find any blood.

Excitement quickly turned into uncertainty.

He called his dad.

Then he called Sinani.

Sinani could tell his friend was upset.

So, in the middle of the work week, Sinani got into his truck and drove four hours to the hunting property to help.

The two searched the next day. They did not find the deer then — it was eventually discovered the following winter — but Mierow said that is not what he remembers most.

He remembers who showed up.

“That’s who Jakup is,” Mierow said. “His loyalty and willingness to help the people he cares about are second to none. No matter the situation, he’s someone I know I can count on.”

That same investment in people is ultimately how Sinani says he wants his coaching career to be measured.

Winning matters. Conference championships matter. Playoff appearances matter.

But years from now, when the players he is coaching today are no longer wearing shoulder pads, Sinani hopes they remember something more.

“I hope they think of me as someone who impacted their life, not just on the football field, but prepared them for what comes after your playing career,” Sinani said. “A lot of that is exactly what my coaches did for me growing up and why I have still kept in touch with a lot of my coaches that coached me.”

At 27, Sinani is still at the beginning of his own coaching career.

Six games into his first season, there have already been blowout losses, doubt, a furious comeback, a first victory and a four-game winning streak.

Now Greendale heads to Wauwatosa West on Friday looking for a fifth straight win and a 5-0 start in Woodland Conference play.

CBS 58

For a coach and a team that started 0-2, the formula has not changed.

Find a way.