The Coaching Story

In 1961, Coach Loren Hemphill was offered his first job as a teacher/coach in Plainville, Kansas.  The initial intent was for it to be a short stay, but he and his family found a place that they have called home for over 60 years.  Though coaching was key part of his career, he also wore many other hats in the support of education that continued on into retirement.  The result being a positive imp...

Coach Gary Heide grew up in Minnesota with a love of athletics and the goal of being a teacher/coach.  Even though it took him longer than expected to realize his dream, he appreciates his meandering path and the people who influenced him along the way.  Though he can point to plenty of wins and two football state championships in Bayfield, Colorado, he chooses to judge himself by the family that...

Coach Todd Hernandez has always appreciated the opportunities that he was provided while growing up in Eaton, Colorado.  Upon returning to his hometown as a teacher/coach, he has given back to the community and its youth.  Though incredible success as a girls' basketball coach and baseball coach can easily be shown, it is some of the results away from the scoreboard that he looks to as his tr...

Coach David Guy grew up in Seibert, Colorado with a love of sports and competition, and even moved on to Western State College to play football.  Though he didn't initially start on the career path of a teacher/coach, he began to feel a strong tug that ended in him jumping into the career that provided him with the purpose he needed.   His success as a Coach at Simla High School has been note...

Neal Dahlen won seven Super Bowl rings as an executive for the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos.  His story is one of a person who loved the game of football and all of the challenges that it presented.  He went from coaching at the high school level, to taking on any job that the San Francisco 49ers would put in front of him, to working up to the top of his profession.   Through it all,...

Football Coach Mike O'Dwyer did not have plans on coaching upon his return to Limon, Colorado, but he was essentially told that he would be a coaching for the tradition-rich community.  The nudge that he was given has led to nearly four decades of coaching at all levels and success that places his program with the best that the state has to offer.     

The career of Coach Dennis Tjaden is a story that goes well beyond the realm of high school athletics in Northeastern Colorado.  Though winning was definitely common during his decorated career, his focus was on the students and athletes of both Julesburg and Revere High Schools, and how he could make their experience a positive one that went beyond the scoreboard.  

Basketball Coach Mike Holloway spent 19 years in charge of his hometown team in Sterling, Colorado.  He added onto an established tradition of success and developed a program that was a model of excellence and consistency.  Through coaching, he found an avenue that fueled his love of competition and also allowed him to be around great athletes and coaches that he believes enriched his experience.

Coach Chris Brown is the winningest high school football coach in the state of Colorado.  With a start at Limon High School in 1976, he has developed a resume that puts him at the top of any list of successful coaches in the state.  Now beginning his 47th year in coaching, 43 of which have been at West Grand High School, he continues to enjoy the challenge of molding teams to be the best that they...

Coach Tom Meyer spent a forty-year career in Akron, Colorado as a teacher/coach.  His level of success in the arena of track and field is legendary, as his teams recorded eight state championships and 10 state runner-up finishes.  Piece together an impressive history as a basketball coach, and we get a picture of a coach that knows success and can get that out of his teams.  Yet he is grateful for...

Coach Jon Penfold spent 30 years at Wiggins High School and developed a dominant wrestling program that achieved success at the top level of Colorado Wrestling.  This included 6 team state championships and a list of awards that places him with the legends of Colorado Wrestling.  It is the athletes, however, that he chooses to focus on and how they made his profession truly a worthwhile vocation.

Growing up in Elbert, Colorado, Coach Jeremy Kerns had a love for athletics and competition.  This was aided by impactful coaches that he credits for opening his eyes to the life of a teacher-coach.  After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado, where he had actively sought out opportunities to gain experiences in coaching, he began his teaching and coaching career at Byers High Schoo...

In an unimaginable coaching career, Coach Keith Riley has won 9 combined state championships in basketball and track at Hill City, Kansas and has been recognized at both the state and national level.  Yet, even as he continues in his 54th consecutive year as a basketball coach, the challenge of building a team and being around his players still gives him great joy. 

Growing up a daughter of a volleyball coach, Erin Deffenbaugh-Ready excelled in multiple sports at Strasburg High School.  She then went on to star at the University of Northern Colorado and had a volleyball career that included  Division II Player of the Year, Division I Independent Player of the Year, and a retired jersey in the rafters at UNC.   The recipe for this was simple:  talent, hard-wor...

Growing up in Aspen Colorado, Coach Jeff Conarroe had a passion for athletics and especially basketball.  After college, however, he decided to pursue a career in the business world.  This turned out to be short-lived as he decided to make some unorthodox moves that sent him along a path the ultimately got him to the NCAA tournament as an assistant, and now the head coaching position at his alma m...

Growing up in Oshkosh, Nebraska, Coach Jolene Dodge loved to play all sports and relished opportunities to compete.  She took this attitude to the college level, as a player, and had a decorated career as a volleyball player.  As she moved onto high school coaching, she has had success at the highest levels.  Her journey has now come full circle, as she has returned to her hometown to coach.

Coach David Dodge grew up in Strasburg, Colorado enjoying all sports and wanting to pursue competition at the college level.  He got that opportunity at Bethany College and remained there as a football and baseball coach for an extended and successful number of years.  When an opportunity came about for him to return to where he grew up and coach at the high school level in Colorado, he moved his...

Coach Jay Madden grew up with in a love of competition.  As he went from a high school football player at Pomona High School in Arvada, Colorado to a college football player at Mesa College, he was around many important mentors he drew from that helped him in developing a philosophy that has taken him to the highest levels of high school coaching in Colorado.  To him, however, coaching always come...

With the combination of a family that emphasized work-ethic, and people he met along his path, Shawn Randel believes that he was given multiple opportunities to develop as a coach and as a person.  He feels blessed to be able to pass along what he has learned to the next generation.

Growing up in Montana, Dave Sheffield knew that he wanted to be a coach.  That opportunity came with a call from Hugo, Colorado.   Through plenty of  impactful experiences, and aided by key individuals along his path, he has built a philosophy of coaching that has translated to seven combined state championships in football and basketball at Hi-Plains and Yuma High Schools.  Yet it is the entire p...

Growing up in Wray, Colorado and being able to compete for his hometown always meant something special to Levi Kramer.  Though he did not initially intend on returning, multiple events led him back and to eventually take over the football program at Wray High School.  It is his mentors, however, that he credits with putting him in position to succeed.

While growing up in rural Kansas, Kevin Shaffer had a love of sports that he carried into his broadcasting career.  After working his way through all levels of radio coverage, he started the Colorado Preps Network for the purpose of providing the public with information about the teams they followed.  Though there have been many changes through the years, he continues to stick to his commitment to...

Basketball Coach Ken Niven has a resume that includes 510 career wins, predominantly at Alamosa and Monarch High Schools.  While at Alamosa, he also coached his teams to four consecutive state championships.  He believes, though, that  it is his players who have allowed him to have a coaching life that has been blessed.

Volleyball Coach Pam Fagerlund grew up in rural Nebraska relishing the opportunities to compete in athletics.  After choosing to dedicate herself to the profession of teacher/coach, she developed a program at Flagler, Colorado that had success at the highest level for over 30 years.   Yet she feels that the lessons that she learned through the process, and the people she was surrounded by, provide...

Football is a game that Coach Monte Thelen loved to play.  That has led him on a path from high school and college athlete to a career as a high school football coach.   He has taken inspiration and advice from the mentors in his life, along with knowledge from multiple coaching stops, to create a philosophy on coaching and the development of young people for football and beyond.