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NFHS Football Coach of the Year: Butch Pedersen
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · January 18, 2018
A national coaching group on Jan. 10 named West Branch High School Head Football Coach Butch Pedersen its football Coach of the Year.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association issued a press release last week honoring the 35-year head coach among coaches in 22 other sports.
Pedersen said he did not know he had been nominated.
“I’m truly honored to receive this award,” Pedersen said. “I know a lot of great football coaches in the state and the nation, and I’ve been blessed with a lot of outstanding assistant coaches, players, parents, community supporters, students and family who have made my time at West Branch a successful one.”
The NFHS selects 23 sports to recognize coaches on a national level. The group selects the top 10 boys and top 10 girls sports by participation numbers, plus two other sports not in the top 10, plus presents one “spirit coach” of the year.
John Hierseman played for West Branch’s first state-champion team in 1989 and now serves as the team’s assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. He said Pedersen’s longevity and leadership style likely contributed to the honor.
“That’s great he got recognized for how many years he’s done this,” Hierseman said. “The lives he’s touched, the kids who played for him, the kids now coaching for him — it’s a great testament for what he’s done.”
The NFHS receives nominations from state sports groups, like the Iowa High School Football Coaches Association, which sends profile forms to high school coaches and athletic directors. The forms ask about win-loss records, affiliation with professional groups, involvement with school and community activities, and coaching philosophy.
Under Pedersen, the Bears won 296 games and lost 74 with the end of the 2017 season, winning 80 percent of 370 games in 35 years. He has also served as head or assistant coaches for other sports, from middle school to high school, like basketball and softball. The football team won three state championships, made nine semi-final appearances, and won 19 conference or district titles with Pedersen at the helm.
Hierseman said Pedersen’s accomplishments certainly helped, but his way with the players and coaching staff ought to play a part.
“I don’t know who nominated him, but if they know him as a person, they’ll know how he is with other coaches and other kids,” he said. “He’s the first one there to pat them on the back, tell them they did a good job and pick them back up. That’s his biggest strength, how to motivate kids and push them hard. It’s easy to talk about, but not easy to do in the heat of the moment.”
Influence
West Branch Community School Superintendent Kevin Hatfield congratulated Pedersen and called the recognition “awesome.”
“He deserves that,” Hatfield said, noting Pedersen’s long years. “Butch is so instrumental in the community in so many ways and he influences so many kids. It is well deserved. It is amazing what he has endured and how he has connected, and his influence on a lot of younger coaches.”
Iowa Football Coaches Association nominated Pedersen, and spokesman Ken Winkler said longevity and success play heavily in the selection process.
“Butch has obviously had a very successful career at West Branch and he’s done it over a long period of time,” Winkler said. “I’ve known Butch for years and he’s good for kids, he’s in coaching for all the right reasons.”
Winkler called Pedersen “always professional,” and cares not only about West Branch football, but football throughout the state.
Team support
Pedersen said the long tradition of football started before he took over for Head Coach Tom Nosbish, who retired after the 1982 season.
“It’s a program thing for me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for (the West Branch Times), coaches, players, the school district, fans and family, it wouldn’t have been possible,” he said. “And West Branch should share in this with me. West Branch should share in this great football program. This has been a football town for a long time.”
The Bears coach said he remembered filling out a profile form, given to him by the IFCA, during the football season, but did not know it would get passed on to multiple national groups considering coaches for honors.
He reiterated his family being “very, very supportive” in his coaching career. Pedersen is married to Jennifer, and they have three grown children: Lance, Kari and Kip.
“I want to thank them for their willingness to allow their dad to coach and miss a variety of activities they were involved in for me to follow my passion,” he said.
Pedersen takes pride in seeing former players return to coach.
“They’re giving back to something they played in,” he said. “That means a lot to me that they want to give back.”
The coach said parents are “very vital” to team.
“They can hurt or help,” he said. “I’ve been blessed for the most part of having good parents who are as objective as they can be in their players’ development.”
He especially appreciates parents who care about other players, not just focus on their own.
A majority of administrators, he said, have allowed him to have “free reign” on running the program, to which he is very thankful.
Pedersen thanked the volunteers who made West Branch’s football program one of the “very rare” programs with many donating time to keep things running smoothly.
“One phone call and we have what we need,” he said. “Everybody has a piece of this thing.”
Pedersen’s head coaching career reaches back to when David “Vid” Johnson served as publisher of the West Branch Times. Since then, four others — Mike Owen, Jake Krob, Rob Poggenklass and this reporter have served as publishers and/or editors.
He thanked this reporter for “being a very objective football fan and reporter,” and others for supportive writing that did not single out players who made mistakes.
“You’re ... memory makers,” he said of the Times writers.
Mentors
Pedersen said he remembers his high school football coach, Roger Hansen, instilling in his mind how to coach.
“When I look back, I think of young coaches and when I was a young kid,” Pedersen said. “(Coach Hansen) set the stage for a lot of my philosophy. He was very organized and a very strict disciplinarian. He demanded the best and I tried to follow that and encourage kids to be as good as they can be.”
He said that mindset works and athletes responded to that.
“To be really successful, they knew they had to play above (what they thought was) their ability,” he said. “They would not want to disappoint anybody when they play football at West Branch. These are a bunch of kids who do extra things, who have that extra heartbeat, to excel in this sport. This is the ultimate team sport. Eleven players have to be in great condition, and they have to be fearless to make a play.”
Pedersen remembers following his grandfather, “Windy” Brown around the University of Iowa athletic fields and Finkbine golf course, overseeing care for the buildings and grounds. Pedersen got to see and meet some of the famous Hawkeye coaches.
“I knew I wanted to coach when I was 10 years old,” he said, which his parents encouraged.
That turned him into a coach-watcher, and why he learned so much from Roger Hansen as a teen and Jim Wheeler when he started teaching at West Branch schools.
“I also learned tons of things form Wheels,” Pedersen said of the former multi-sport coach. “He was an excellent mentor for me as a young coach.”
He said many coaches taught him something about leadership.
“They gave me a lot of examples to follow,” he said.
The Bears program includes a website designed by and filled with content mostly generated by volunteers Matt Chinander and Jason Miller. Pedersen said few other teams have their own website, and fewer still have one that impresses not only other high school coaches, but even some college coaches. It is another example of “a labor of love” that generates more community interest and builds on the tradition of the team, he said.
Community program
Pedersen said that when he first stepped up to the head coach position, he stressed making it a “community program.”
Toward that goal, he followed the example of others to organize and delegate responsibilities.
“I let my coaches coach and hold them responsible for their activities,” he said.
The coach tries to pick staff willing to learn new techniques and “different ways to approach kids from both physical and mental standpoints.”
And he wants the community to see the entire staff “really cares about kids.”
He also wants players to learn to “have each other’s backs” because that “family atmosphere” means they take the wins and losses together, which is part of success.
“Those who are more ‘I’-oriented have trouble,” the coach said.
All the sustained support and all the attention to the team over the years creates something which young players look up to and, when they reach high school, to play at a level that follows that tradition.
“Even with a team that’s not quite as talented ... that gives you some extra points in a game,” Pedersen said. “West Branch’s tradition is very well respected, and it’s because of the hard work and dedication by everyone in the program and community.”
The NFHS’s press release states that a committee evaluates candidates based on their particular section of the country, then compares them again on a national scale on a point system. Another 644 coaches will receive sectional and state awards.
Other winners
Other recipients of this year’s national awards for boys sports are: Eloy Brazil, basketball, Maxwell (New Mexico) Municipal Schools; Eric Cummings, cross country, Greer (South Carolina) Riverside High School; Don Fosselman, soccer, Parkersburg (West Virginia) High School; Thomas Gladd, golf, Voorheesville (New York) Clayton A. Bouton High School; Robert Gonzales, wrestling, Manhattan (Kansas) High School; Thomas Loy, track and field - outdoor, East Canton (Ohio) High School; Charles Nelson, tennis, Florence (South Carolina) West Florence High School; Craig Phillips, baseball, Fort Plain (New York) Central School; and Michael Venos, swimming and diving, Bloomfield Hills (Michigan) Brother Rice High School.
The recipients of the 2017 NFHS national awards for girls sports are: Michael Ahrens, swimming and diving, Bettendorf (Iowa) High School; Bruce Cooper, golf, Hoisington (Kansas) High School; Janet Frazier, volleyball, Elizabeth (West Virginia) Wirt County High School; Johnette Goldman, cross country, Heber Springs (Arkansas) High School; Gwyneth Pinta, lacrosse, Columbus (Ohio) Upper Arlington High School; David Rosenthal, soccer, Iowa City (Iowa) Iowa City West High School; Kevin Ryan, track and field - outdoor, Bellingham (Washington) Sehome High School; Karen Self, basketball, Chandler (Arizona) Seton Catholic Prep; Kristie Stevens, tennis, Tucson (Arizona) Catalina Foothills High School; and Gene Victor, softball – fast pitch, Albuquerque (New Mexico) Cibola High School.
The recipient of the National Coach of the Year Award for spirit is Jeffrey Siegal of Buffalo Grove (Illinois) High School. John Todd, a lacrosse coach at Hingham (Massachusetts) High School, was chosen in the “other” category for boys sports, and Ann Naughton, a field hockey coach at Saint James (New York) Smithtown High School East was chosen in the “other” category for girls sports.
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