National High School Athletic Coaches Association
2008 National Coach of the Year Recipients
View the 2008 NHSACA Coach of the Year Finalists (by sport)
The National High School Athletic Coaches Association held its 43rd Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 23-25th. The Meeting culminates with its Annual Awards Banquet that includes the awarding of the NHSACA Coach of the Year Awards. Eight Finalists from 18 sports and athletic director are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments and service. The final award of the evening is the naming of the National Coach of the Year recipient in each for the sports and athletic director.
The award recipients are evaluated on longevity, professional service, win-loss percentage, championship years, and professional awards. Every state in the nation is provided opportunity to nominate candidates for evaluation for the award. The evaluation process is a two-tiered process; first the finalists are determined and the second evaluation is to determine the National Coach of the Year recipient.
The following narratives are the award presentations that were read at the Awards Banquet:
Athletic Director of the Year - Marv Reiland, Iowa City West High School; Iowa City, Iowa
Marv's career spans 37 years with 22 of those years in the AD capacity including the last 17 at Iowa City West. He is charge of athletic programs at two junior highs and one high school serving 2750 students with 210 coaches with a budget of $675,000. He has been responsible for the construction or renovation at seven different facilities in his district and directing the spending of over a million dollars in these projects. He seemed to get involved in one of these projects every two years. Marv has served as the President of the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association and on many committees of that group. His school has hosted State Finals competition and he has conducted many rules meetings for wrestling, football, basketball, softball and baseball. He has received many awards from that group including the State Award of Merit and the State AD of the Year Award. 35 Teams at West have won State Championships under his directorship.
Baseball - Mac Whitaker, Harrison County High School; Cynthiana, Kentucky
Mac has been the head coach for 30 of his 31 years of coaching all which has been at Harrison County. His teams have won 815 games while losing only 240. Along the way he found one state runner-up trophy and 3 state championships. He has received Coach of the Year Honors from Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association, American Baseball Coaches Association, National Federation Coaches Association, National Baseball Coaches Association. He is a two time NHSACA Finalist. Mac received a Commonwealth Honorary Citizen Award from the Kentucky House of Representatives and elected to the Kentucky Hall of Fame by the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association. He has served on many committees of the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association and served a term as president of that same group. He was clinic coordinator for the first two clinics that the above group ran. This man has served on the Mr. Baseball committee in Kentucky but it sounds like he is Mr. Baseball in his state.
Boys' Basketball - Dale Mabrey, Pleasure Ridge Park High School; Louisville, Kentucky
Dale has been a head coach for 26 of his 31 years of coaching with the last 26 seasons at Pleasure Ridge Park. His overall record is 676 wins with 181 losses. There is only division or class for Kentucky basketball with almost 400 high schools but his teams have won the second level of competition 24 of the 26 years he has been the head coach. They have won one state title and finished state runner-up two other years. He is six time Regional Coach of the Year honoree and inducted into the Kentucky Coaches Court of Honor in 2003 and the Metro Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the Associated Press Kentucky Coach of the Year in 1986 and a NHSACA Finalist in 2003. Service wise he has served as the head coach in the Kentucky/Indiana All Star Game, as an officer in Jefferson County Basketball Coaches Association and on various Kentucky Activities Association committees.
Girls' Basketball - Victor Cook, Freeman Public Schools; Adams, Nebraska
Vic has been coaching for 48 years with 31 of those as the girls' basketball coach at Adams Public and Freeman Public Schools. He has put together 594 wins against 131 losses. His teams have won 5 state titles and been runner-up 4 times also. He has received 6 State Coach of the Year Awards. Vic was inducted into the University of Nebraska-Kearney Hall of Fame in 19821 and the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame in 2006. He has named Women's Coach of the Year for the state of Nebraska three times and NHSACA Regional Coach of the Year in 1979, 84 and 92.
Boys' Cross Country - Paul Jorgensen, Flathead High School; Kalispell, Montana.
Paul has been the Head Cross Country Coach at Flathead High School for 34 years. He has compiled 2435 wins against 352 losses in all types of competition including multi-team invitationals and state competititon. Paul's teams have won 11 state championships and have been state runner-up two other seasons. His teams have been ranked nationally by Harrier Magazine on a couple occasions. He has also coached some Finalists for the Foot Locker Competition and over 40 runners who have gone on to run at the college or university level. He is a many time honoree as Montana Coach of the Year for Cross Country and was inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and the NHSACA Hall of Fame in 2003. He also was a NHSACA Finalist previously. Paul has served as state representative to the Montana High School Athletic Association for over 5 years.
Girls' Cross Country - Roger Wright, Omaha Marian; Omaha, Nebraska
Roger has been coaching Girls' Cross Country for 23 of his 34 years of coaching. The last 22 years have been at Marian where he has won 6 state championships and been runner-up twice. His 2006-07 team was ranked in the top 25 nationally by Harrier Magazine. He has been named State Coach of the Year 4 times and was a NHSACA Finalist in 2003. Roger has served as a speaker at the Nebraska Coaches Association Clinic a couple of different years.
Football - Gary Korhonen, Richards High School; Oak Lawn, Illinois
Gary has been the head coach for 38 of his 44 years of coaching. He started coaching in Iowa where he spent 2 years before moving to Oak Lawn. His teams have won 315 game while losing 98 for a 76% won/loss percentage. His teams won 2 state titles and were runner-up four times. He has received far too many Coach of the Year Honors to mention. The stadium at Richards High School is named Korhonen Field. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of Richards High School, Upper Iowa University, Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Gary has served on the Boards for All Area Selection with the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times and as Representative to the Rules Committee for the South Interscholastic Conference for over 25 years.
Golf - Steven Kennedy, Fargo South High School; Fargo, North DakotaSteven has been the head coach at South High School for his entire 15 year career. He has 92.4 winning percentage in all competition with 9 state titles and 3 state runner-up finishes since 1995. Steve has received state coach of the year honors on two occasions and was a NHSACA Finalist in 2005. He has been a presenter at the North Dakota Coaches Association Annual Clinic, been State Tournament Director and served on the NDHSCA Advisory Committee as the golf representative.
Boys' Soccer - Jorge Tristani, Jr., St. Pius X High School; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jorge has spent his entire 24 years of coaching as the head coach of St. Pius X High School compiling 376 wins against 72 losses and 21 ties. Included in this are 16 district titles 1 state runner-up finish and 15 state championships. Jorge has been named district, state and Rocky Mountain Coach of the Year together on seven different occasions. Jorge was inducted into the Albuquerque Hall of Fame in 2007. Jorge has worked with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America with their programs in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Girls' Soccer - Rob Chapman IV, Valley High School; West Des Moines, Iowa
Rob has been the varsity coach for 12 of his 13 years of coaching. His overall record is 222 wins and 17 losses with 4 state championships three of which were consecutive. The Valley Girls currently have a 57 game win streak against in state competition. He has served on the Selection Committee for IAHSSCA and as a clinic speaker for their clinics. He is currently the president of the West Des Moines Soccer Club. He has received numerous Coach of the Year honors including being named State Coach of the Year four times. Coach Chapman is very passionate about soccer and is currently writing a book on building a program, not just a team.
Softball - Howard Stuart, Richmond High School; Richmond, Michigan
Howard has been the head softball coach at Richmond for his entire career of 29 years. During that period his teams have put together 742 wins against only 189 losses. Included in that record are 25 conference titles, 16 district or regional titles and three state runner-up finishes. He has named the District Coach of the Year 16 times, Regional Coach of the Year 7 times. He has been selected as an All-Star Coach 7 times and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000. He has been active in the Softball Coaches Association as their Newsletter Editor, District Chair, Regional Chair, Chair of All-State Committee, Director of the Senior All-Star Game and tens year as vice-president and president.
Special Sports Ice Hockey -Andy Weidenbach, Cranbrook-Kingswood Schools; Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Andy has been the head hockey coach at Cranbrook-Kingswood for the past 14 years. His record the past season was 25-4. Overall his teams have won 10 regional titles, been state runner-up twice and have won 6 State Titles. Andy has received the prestigious Pete Dawkins Award from his school, been named Coach of the Year by his school, and State Coach of the Year for Hockey on four occasions. He was National Coach of the Year for the Federation in 1998. Prior to getting into high school coaching he was involved Compuware Hockey Instructional Program and with USA Hockey as an Age Group Coach at many different Age Groups and different levels of competition. Andy has further served his sport as an officer in the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association including the office of President and on numerous committees of that group. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Special Sports Finalist, Andy Weidenbach from Cranbrook-Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Swimming and Diving - Burt Stratton, David Douglas High School; Portland, Oregon
Burt has been the head coach for 31 years at David Douglas High School and has compiled an almost unbelievable 98.9% won/loss percentage. His team have won 5 state titles, been 2nd three times and finished in the top five 8 other times. Burt has been honored as State Coach of the Year 7 times. This is the 5th time he has been named a National Finalist for the NHSACA Coach of the Year. Burt has served as the Oregon Representative to the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association since 2002.
Tennis - Larry Heflin, Lone Oak High School; Paducah, Kentucky
Larry has been the head tennis coach at Lone Oak for his entire career of 35 years. His record is 386 wins and 37 losses in dual meets. His teams have won 9 state titles and finished 2nd 6 other times. There are over 200 schools that sponsor tennis in Kentucky and they all compete in one division. He has been named State Coach of the Year multiple times by various groups. He received the Garnis Martin Outstanding Coach Award in 2006. This is given out to one coach in his state annually by the Kentucky High School Athletic Director's Association and the Kentucky High School Coaches Association. Larry has been Regional Meet Tournament Director since 1980 and member of the KHSAA State Tennis Seeding Committee since 1985.
Boys' Track and Field - Robert Robinson, Mountain View High School; Mesa, Arizona
Bob has been the Head Track Coach for 27 of his 50 years of coaching. He started his career in Minnesota and later moved to Arizona where he has been for the past 20 years. Because of the multi-team competition nature of the sport, his record shows 2819 wins against only 119 losses. That is a 96% won/loss percentage for 27 years. His teams have won 4 state titles and finished 2nd 6 other times. The track teams at Mountain typically have around 130 guys and around 100 girls on them. Bob has been selected as Arizona Coach of the Year 5 different times. 2008 marks the 3rd time that Bob has received NHSACA Finalist status. Bob was an athletic director for 10 years in Minnesota and served as the meet director for many regional meets there. He also was the founder and meet director for the Mayo Invitational in Rochester. In Arizona, he has been the Meet Director for the State 5 A Meet and the East Valley Regional Meet for at least five years each. He is the Track Coach Representative to the AIA and chairman of their Qualifying Committee, and the 5A Seeding Committee. Bob has also made clinic presentations in Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota.
Girls' Track and Field - Edmund Bowie, Central High School; Capitol Heights, Maryland
Ed has been the head coach at Central High School for 31 years. During that time his teams have compiled a 99% won/loss record. They have the state champions 20 times and the state runner-up 4 other times. Needless to say there have been many Coach of the Year Honors for Girls' Track, Indoor Track and Cross Country. In 1989, he was selected as the honorary Referee for the Penn Relays. Ed was inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame in 2007. Ed has been a long time member of the Maryland State Cross Country Committee and Indoor Track Committee. He has been the Cross Country Chairman with the Prince Georges County Athletic Directors Association since 1981.
Volleyball - Dae Lea Aldrich, Mira Costa High School; Manhattan Beach, California
Dae Lea was the Head Coach at Mira Costa High School for 25 years retiring after the 2007 school year. Her record there was 669 wins and 76 losses with 14 CIF championships, 3 state runner-up finishes and 6 state titles. She has received State Coach of the Year honors from the California Coaches Association twice. She was named National Coach of the Year by Prep Volleyball.com in 2006. She has received honors from Muzuno, California State Senate, California State Assembly, Manhattan Beach City Council, El Camino College. She has been inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame at Cal State-Long Beach, El Camino College, and the CIF Southern Section. She has been Clinic Director for USA Gold Medal Clinic, and AVP Women's Volleyball. Dae Lea has served as league council representative to the CIF Council and was the chair person of the Advisory Committee and Chair of the AUCIF Selection for the CIF - Southern Section in the 80's and 90's.
Wrestling - Fran Esser, Redfield High School; Redfield, South Dakota
Fran was the head coach at New Rockford, North Dakota for 2 seasons, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for 2 seasons and at Redfield for the past 32 seasons. His dual meet record is 412 wins against 68 losses and 3 ties. His teams have won 24 league titles, 27 district or regional championships, been state runner-up 2 times and have won 6 state championships. He has been named State Coach of the Year 3 times. He was named the Coach of the Decade for the 1980's. He received the All Sports Coach of the Year from the Associated Press in 1991. Fran was a NHSACA Finalist in 2001. Fran has done it all at Redfield. One year he was the head coach in football, cross country, wrestling and track. The other teams have been successful as well. Fran has served as a Sectional Tournament Director, as AAU District Director, local AAU director, wrestling scholarship director and head coach for the Disney Duals and South Dakota All-Stars. |
