It is exciting to inherit something that is awesome and then accept the challenge of maintaining the status, but there is something extra sweet about building a contender from the bottom up.

When any athletic program, regardless of what sport it is, hires a new coach you immediately hear the new hire profess he/she is going to change the culture of the program. What does this mean exactly? If you come into a program that has been on the losing side for many years, what can you do to turn the momentum toward winning? How does a coach get the interest of the student athlete to play his or her particular sport to increase the odds of success?

Most would say, “Just win, baby,” but I think it is more than that. To help answer these questions, I am sharing the journey of a young high school coach from Mona Shores, MI, who I enjoyed following while living in the area. I also have had many conversations with area coaches on their thoughts of program building, and last, I’ll throw in my own experience from my early days coaching in Nicholas County. So, how do you build a winning high school sports program?

Meet Matt Koziak, head football coach at Mona Shores High School in Mona Shores, MI. I know about this guy because I read about him. A lot. Koziak, a Mona Shores graduate who also played for the football team in the 90s, took the head job because it was alluring to him. It was also a huge challenge, because Mona Shores football had always been mediocre at best, and more often than not, really bad. Mona was a guaranteed win back in the day when my kids attended Grand Haven. Mona had that kind of reputation, but that all changed when Coach Matt Koziak took the helm. Coach Koziak believed there could be something special at his old alma mater. He wanted to give it a shot and see if he could help contribute something to developing the program. Matt, working as an assistant coach, had witnessed how Muskegon Head Coach Tony Annese interacted with the kids at Muskegon, a well-known power-house high school just north of Mona Shores. Coach Koziak believed he learned from the best and wanted to take that blueprint and bring it to Mona. The hardest part was getting kids to believe. “That didn’t happen overnight, but once we got the kids to believe, the administrators started to believe, and the community started to believe. It truly takes a village and great things can happen,” explained the young coach.

They sure can. Koziak guided the Mona Shores Sailors to their first ever playoff appearance in history in 2013. They followed that with an appearance in the state Division 2 finals in 2014. They returned yet again in 2018 and finally broke through winning their first state title in school history in 2019. Then in January of 2020, the Sailors grabbed their second state title during a season filled with maddening stops and starts of a Covid schedule. That’s a very long way from where the Mona Shores football program was for many years before Koziak’s arrival.

That’s also building a program and setting tradition.

We don’t have to look far to find coaches that are able to build strong championship programs right here in Tyler and Wetzel Counties. When speaking with area coaches in general, I get the feeling they all want the same thing. They want a program that produces winners, builds tradition, and is respected throughout the state. They do have different thoughts on how you go about producing the above-mentioned results. One successful area coach believes his kids must feel invested in the program, like they have a say in some of the decisions the team makes. For instance, when the team will practice on Saturdays. He explained his feelings by using a rental car as an example. “People don’t wax rental cars. But they put great time and effort into cars they own. Same applies to a team.” That might be the best quote I have heard in a while.

Now some of you young whipper snappers might think my input is outdated, but there is something to be said for listening to the sage advice of your elders. I remember taking over a football program in Nicholas County that had some success but not many winning records. My first meeting with my new team resulted in 15 kids showing up for football. I knew then we had to do something fast if we were going to compete in our conference, let alone compete for playoff appearances.

I’ll admit my youth at the time made it easier to communicate with my players, but my staff and I worked hard to grow excitement for the sport by making weight room and practice fun, not long hours but productive hours. We worked at building relationships with our kids, so they knew we truly cared about their welfare and future. We built interest in the community by appearing and speaking at any event that would have us. We ran an up-tempo offense that the kids enjoyed. My staff and I made sure that every kid in uniform played in the game, either as a starter or on special teams. We had our own version of the 12th man with a kickoff team made up of non-starters and a mission or goal of not allowing any kick-off returns. Kids took ownership of this goal, and it was their moment to shine.

We didn’t make the play-offs that year, but the following year NCHS had 38 kids show up for weight room and the first day of practice. It changed the culture from average to above average and expectations began to grow, and that is the start of building a program. To this day, NCHS continues its winning tradition with numerous post season appearances in football in recent years. Go Grizzlies!

If you want to build a successful sports program listen to the words of Coach Koziak of Mona Shores. Or ask anyone of the successful coaches in our area that have knocked on the door of post season play. A team’s success is measured by its season record yet winning is only a part of its story. Like most organizations effective leadership starts at the top. A program can only be as good as the person orchestrating the team’s performance. Effective coaching runs deeper than wins and losses; it also means reaching athletes on an individual level. Coaches who are able to build positive, personal relationships with their athletes are ensuring success beyond their record on the field. And that is how you build a program from the ground up.