2021-22 National Coaches of the Year Selected by NFHS Coaches Association

Twenty-three high school coaches from across the country have been selected as 2021-22 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.

The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in two “other” sports – one for boys and one for girls – that are not included in the top 10 listings. The NFHS also recognizes a spirit coach as a separate award category. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award. This year’s awards recognize coaches for the 2021-22 school year.

Recipients of the 2021-22 national awards for boys sports are: Billy Bowen, baseball, Durant (Oklahoma) Silo High School; Greg Haagsma, basketball, Chandler (Arizona) Valley Christian High School; Rickey Baker, cross country, Keams Canyon (Arizona) Hopi High School; Greg Grant, 11-player football, Heppner (Oregon) High School; Brendan Patch, golf, Huntington Beach (California) Edison High School; Michael Hagerty, soccer, Yarmouth (Maine) High School; Richard Blanc, swimming and diving, Rancho Santa Margarita (California) Santa Margarita Catholic High School; Josh Munro, tennis, Kalispell (Montana) Glacier High School; Benny Mitchell, track and field, Taos (New Mexico) High School; and Jeffrey Matczak, wrestling, Kaukauna (Wisconsin) High School.

The recipients of the 2021-22 NFHS national awards for girls sports are: Mary Klinger, basketball, Somerset (New Jersey) Rutgers Preparatory School; Jill Evers, cross country, Kent City (Michigan) High School; Frank Gallant, golf, Springfield (Missouri) Catholic High School; Tim Godby, lacrosse, Milton (Georgia) High School; William Pfeifer Jr., soccer, Moon Township (Pennsylvania) Moon Area High School; Mark Watt, softball, Lincoln (Nebraska) Southwest High School; Michael Rose, swimming and diving, Brookfield (Wisconsin) East High School; Kirsten Ruchaber, tennis, Portland (Oregon) Jesuit High School; Sue Hysong, track and field, Avondale (Arizona) Westview High School; and Iona Stookey, volleyball, Worden (Montana) Huntley Project High School.

The recipient of the National Coach of the Year Award for spirit is Debbie Kishpaugh of Pendleton (Oregon) High School. Dan Shine, an ice hockey coach at Arlington (Massachusetts) Catholic High School, was chosen in the “other” category for boys sports, and Terri Simonetti-Frost, a field hockey coach at Thomas Worthington High School in Worthington, Ohio, was chosen in the “other” category for girls sports.

The NFHS receives nominations from its member state associations, which often works with the state coaches’ association in its respective state. The state association then contacts the potential state award recipients to complete a coach profile form that requests information regarding the coach’s record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy. To be approved as an award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year consideration, this profile form must be completed by the coach or designee and then approved by the executive director (or designee) of the state athletic/activities association.

The next award level after state coach of the year is sectional coach of the year. The NFHS is divided into eight geographical sections. They are as follows: Section 1 – Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT); Section 2 – Mideast (DE, DC, KY, MD, OH, PA, VA, WV); Section 3 – South (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN); Section 4 – Central (IL, IN, IA, MI, WI); Section 5 – Midwest (KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD); Section 6 – Southwest (AR, CO, NM, OK, TX); Section 7 – West (AZ, CA, HI, NV, UT); and Section 8 – Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY).

The NFHS Coaches Association has an advisory committee composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives. The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, the spirit category and two “other” categories.

A total of 870 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards.

Following are biographical sketches of the 23 NFHS National High School Coaches of the Year for 2021-22:

COACHES OF THE YEAR – BOYS SPORTS

**Baseball
****Billy Bowen
**Durant, Oklahoma

Billy Bowen has been the baseball coach at Silo High School in Durant, Oklahoma, for more than 20 years and has led his teams to 18 state championships – six in the fall and 12 in the spring. (The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association conducts two state baseball championships each year.) Overall, Bowen has coached for 36 years and has won more than 2,200 games in the combined seasons. A 1979 draft choice of the Atlanta Braves, Bowen is a two-time Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association (OBCA) Coach of the Year (2009, 2017), and a 2005 inductee into the OBCA Hall of Fame. Bowen also coached girls basketball for seven years and won 381 games in 19 years as a boys basketball coach. He also was a school administrator for 22 years and athletic director for 15 years. Bowen said he became involved in high school sports to “help mold students and better equip them for life through athletics.”

**Basketball
****Greg Haagsma
**Chandler, Arizona

Greg Haagsma has led the Valley Christian High School boys basketball team to the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) state tournament 20 times since the 2001 season. He has coached the Chandler, Arizona, school to seven AIA state championships, including last year’s Class 3A team that won the title with a 27-3 record. Haagsma has a 590-183 record in 25 years as high school boys basketball coach, and he has received numerous Coach of the Year honors. He also has served as the school’s athletic director since 2013 and was selected 3A Conference Athletic Director of the Year in 2020-21. He also coached girls basketball for six years and led his teams to five state tournament appearances, and has been co-owner of Valley Christian sports camps since 1996. Haagsma believes that “educational athletics play an important role in the overall development of each student at the high school level. The experiences are part of the process by which our young men and women are being taught character qualities and are being molded into the adults that we desire they become.”

**Cross Country
****Rickey Baker
**Keams Canyon, Arizona

Rickey Baker has become one of the most successful boys cross country coaches in the nation since his arrival at Hopi High School in Keams Canyon, Arizona in 1987. Three years later, Baker led Hopi to its first state boys cross country championship, and his teams didn’t lose another state title until 2017 – a streak of 27 consecutive team championships. The 27 consecutive state cross country titles is a national record, and Baker’s 1999 team scored a perfect 15, which means Hopi runners finished 1-2-3-4-5. Perhaps most amazing about the streak is that Hopi continued to win despite moving into larger classifications. Hopi won 11 straight 2A titles (1990-2000), six consecutive 3A titles (2001-2006) and 10 straight 4A titles (2007-16). He has also coached Hopi’s boys basketball team for 18 years, with a 2A state title in 1997, and the girls and boys track and field teams for the past 10 years. Baker was a 2021 inductee into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.

**Football, 11-Player
****Greg Grant
**Heppner, Oregon

Currently the football coach at Heppner (Oregon) High School, Greg Grant has compiled an outstanding 330-76 record in 41 years of coaching. He has led his teams to three Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) state championships (1992, 2015 and 2019) and three runner-up finishes (1989, 2007 and 2014). Grant, who ranks No. 4 on the all-time Oregon football coaching victories list, has received numerous State and Conference Coach of the Year awards. In addition to coaching football at Heppner High School since 1990, Grant also has served as the school’s athletic director since 2001 and has been an assistant coach for several other sports. Grant has served on the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association and the Oregon Athletic Directors Association Boards of Directors, and he has served on several OSAA committees. Grant’s philosophy of athletics is to “capitalize on the lessons available in athletics to enrich every player’s life now and into the future. It is my goal that players leave our program realizing that attendance, timeliness, effort and accountability are actions that will set them up for success in every facet of their lives.”

**Golf
****Brendan Patch
**Huntington Beach, California

Brendan Patch has coached at the high school level for 26 years and is currently boys golf coach at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California. He has led his teams to 250 victories, including the 2007 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state title. Within the CIF-Southern Section, Patch’s teams won the Central Division title in 2006 and the Southern Division championships in 2019. Edison, which finished fifth in the CIF state meet last year, won the SCGA Southern California and the Southern Nevada Invitational last year. Patch has also coached basketball at various levels for 15 years and served as a public-address announcer for several sports for 15 years. Patch said his coaching philosophy is very simple: “While success on the course (or in the gradebook) will always be an important goal, my main objective is to foster the growth of my players and students as individuals. My aim is to make them valued contributors to the betterment of the school, local community and society as a whole.”

**Soccer
****Michael Hagerty
**Yarmouth, Maine

For 30 years, Michael Hagerty has led and developed the youth soccer community in Yarmouth, Maine. As head boys soccer coach at Yarmouth High School since 1997, Hagerty has won more than 350 games and earned several accolades during his tenure. He has twice been named NFHS Soccer Coach of the Year in Maine (2011, 2021), and earned the United Soccer Coaches (formerly National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Maine Coach of the Year for large public schools in 2004 and 2008. Under Hagerty’s leadership, the Yarmouth program is a five-time winner of the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award. Hagerty has also helped build a successful youth program in Yarmouth, leading youth teams to three state championships and earning the Soccer Maine Youth Coach of the Year in 2014. He also serves as the boys and girls basketball coach and chess club advisor at the middle school level.

**Swimming and Diving
****Richard Blanc
**Rancho Santa Margarita, California

Richard Blanc is the boys swimming and diving coach of the year, but he and his brother, Ron, have co-coached the boys and girls swimming and diving teams at Santa Margarita Catholic since 1996 to outstanding success. The boys program has won 14 of the past 22 league championships and won back-to-back California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division 1 championships in 2021 and 2022. At the 2022 CIF state meet, the boys team swam to a runner-up finish earning the second-highest point total ever recorded at the state championship. Blanc and his brother have led the girls program to four CIF state titles as well. Among his honors, Blanc was the 2014 National High School Coaches Association Swimming Coach of the Year, the 2022 CIF Southern Section Swim Coach of the Year and is a two-time Orange County Swim Coach of the Year. In addition to teaching international business at Santa Margarita, Blanc coached the girls water polo team for 17 years.

**Tennis
****Josh Munro
**Kalispell, Montana

Josh Munro coaches his tennis athletes at Kalispell (Montana) Glacier High School with the goal of inspiring lifelong tennis players. The wins and championships he has collected in 16 years as head coach at Glacier are a result of that approach. During his time at Glacier, Munro has led the boys and girls tennis programs to 17 divisional titles (10 for boys, 7 for girls) and coached 14 individual state champions. He has been named coach of the year three times for the boys program and once as the girls coach. In addition, Munro has helped coach the Glacier debate teams to six state championships, including eight individual state champions.

**Track and Field
****Benny Mitchell
**Taos, New Mexico

Benny Mitchell has coached the Taos (New Mexico) High School boys track and field team the past 14 years with a philosophy of developing student-athletes’ ability to build trust in themselves, their teams and their supporters. He also developed a mini-dynasty in the past decade when the Taos boys track and field program won five straight state championships from 2014 to 2018. Mitchell’s teams have also won seven district titles. In addition, Mitchell coaches the girls program at Taos, guiding them to three state titles and five district championships. Mitchell has led a wide variety of student-athletes at Taos having coached football, boys and girls basketball, and bowling during his time there. Mitchell is a current board member of the New Mexico Coaches Association and serves on the New Mexico Activities Association Track and Field Committee.

**Wrestling
****Jeffrey Matczak
**Kaukauna, Wisconsin

In 31 years as wrestling coach at Kaukauna (Wisconsin) High School, Jeffrey Matczak has proved to be one of the most accomplished coaches in the state and nation, winning more than 500 meets while losing only 59. Three times he has been named Wisconsin Coach of the Year and, in 2022, was named Northeastern Wisconsin USA Today Coach of the Year. In addition, Matczak is an eight-time district coach of the year and been named Fox Valley Association Coach of the Year 12 times. During his time at Kaukauna, he has also coached baseball and football, and served as athletic director. Matczak is a leader in the wrestling community as a member of the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association and director of the Kaukauna Wrestling Club.

COACHES OF THE YEAR – GIRLS SPORTS

**Basketball
****Mary Klinger
**Somerset, New Jersey

Klinger’s all-time girls basketball coaching record now sits at 634-243 after she led Rutgers Preparatory Academy to a 30-3 campaign in 2021-22, for which she received the Skyland Conference Coach of the Year award. Her accolades over 38 seasons include three state championships and a 2016 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Service Award, and have earned her inductions into the New Jersey Sports Writers Hall of Fame (2009) and the New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2014), among others. Klinger currently serves on the New Jersey Basketball Coaches Association Executive Board and has previously been involved with the NJSIAA as a secretary and Basketball Committee member. As the athletic director at Rutgers Prep, Klinger has been a tournament director for NJSIAA cross country, volleyball, baseball and softball tournaments, and has also coordinated tournaments events for the Skyland Conference and Somerset County. Klinger’s extensive service record stands as a testament to her coaching philosophy, which she adopted from legendary basketball coach John Wooden: “a leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example.”

**Cross Country
****Jill Evers
**Kent City, Michigan

Jill Evers has established an outstanding girls cross country program in 33 years as coach at Kent City High School in Kent City, Michigan. Over the past 33 years, Evers has led her teams to 21 conference titles, 50 invitational titles, seven regional titles, and two state runners-up trophies in 2012 and 2022. Her work has been recognized with several honors including NFHS Sectional Coach of the Year in 2006, Michigan High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2022 and Regional Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2021. In 2012, Evers was awarded the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association (MITCA) Charles Sweeney Award and was inducted into the MITCA Hall of Fame. Evers has also coached boys cross country and girls track and field at Kent City High School since 1993. She believes that athletics are an opportunity to challenge oneself and grow to overcome adversity. Evers said, “I believe cross country lends itself to individual successes. Everyone can improve and learn lifelong healthy habits. Everyone can set and achieve goals.”

**Golf
****Frank Gallant
**Springfield, Missouri

“My philosophy is to put my student-athletes in the best possible position for success in sports and in life situations and continue to motivate them in any endeavor that they might venture into,” said Frank Gallant, who has coached for 34 years, including the past seven years as girls golf coach at Springfield (Missouri) Catholic High School. Gallant has led his teams to three consecutive Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) girls state golf championships and six consecutive district and conference titles. He also has coached four consecutive MSHSAA individual state champions.  Gallant also coaches boys golf, as well as girls and boys basketball at Springfield Catholic. Prior to joining the Springfield Catholic staff, Gallant coached boys and girls golf at Ozark High School for 27 years. Gallant’s contribution to high school activities extends beyond the golf course. He’s served on several district and sectional championship tournament committees.

**Lacrosse
****Tim Godby
**Milton, Georgia

Tim Godby coaches Milton (Georgia) High School girls lacrosse with the philosophy that hard work and preparation are paramount. He believes that this culture is a driving force in his success, leading his program to 15 Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Girls Lacrosse State Championships in the 18 years the event has been held. Godby has an impressive career record of 323-41 and a long list of honors including eight Georgia Coach of the Year titles, 18 Area Championships and multiple Top 5, Top 10 and Top 25 national rankings. In 2019, he was inducted into the Georgia Lacrosse USA Hall of Fame. Godby makes the sport accessible in the wider Milton community through his work running the Eagle Stix rec program, youth camps, free clinics and youth officials training.

**Soccer
****William Pfeifer Jr.
**Moon Township, Pennsylvania

William Pfeifer Jr., girls soccer coach at Moon Township (Pennsylvania) Moon Area High School, believes that athletics are a pathway to bigger and better things. “The game, as in life, is not always fair and may not go the way you want all the time. But if you stay focused, set goals and look at the bigger picture, all things in the end work out,” Pfeifer said. In 27 years as a high school girls soccer coach, Pfeifer has 482 victories – most in Pennsylvania girls soccer coaching history. Pfeifer has been honored with Coach of the Year awards from the North Hills News Record, Western Pennsylvania High School Girls Soccer Coaches Association and Pennsylvania State Coaches Association, among others. Pfeifer’s impact on the Moon Township community is also present in his role as Moon Area special education teacher and his seat in various professional soccer associations.

**Softball
****Mark Watt
**Lincoln, Nebraska

Mark Watt**,** Lincoln (Nebraska) Southwest High School girls softball coach, retired in 2022 as the career leader in softball coaching victories in Nebraska with 579 wins during his 25 years of coaching. Watt has led his teams to four Nebraska School Activities Association Class A State Softball Championships, along with three second-place finishes. He was named Coach of the Year from various organizations including Nebraska Coaches Association, Lincoln Journal Star and KFOR Sportscasters Club. He has worked as the Lincoln Southwest High School Health and Physical Education Department chair for the past 19 years, and he has had a significant philanthropic impact on the community through his volunteer work with a number of organizations. When asked about his coaching philosophy, Watt said, “By putting team goals ahead of individuals’ desires, by experiencing the benefits of focused efforts toward fitness and skill development and by taking advantage of leadership opportunities, student-athletes develop in ways that cannot be replicated.”

**Swimming and Diving
****Michael Rose
**Brookfield, Wisconsin

Michael Rose, who was the recipient of this same award two years ago, has built a swimming dynasty in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He has coached for 40 years, serving 38 of those as the girls swimming and diving head coach at Brookfield (Wisconsin) East High School. His 280 lifetime wins have yielded four state championships, several Coach of the Year honors, participation in 45 Wisconsin State event championships and 63 high school All-American events. Rose’s influence flows off the pool deck and into the classroom in his role teaching AP Calculus, tutoring and leading math competitions. He impacts community members of various ages with his work as coach of Elmbrook Swim Club, Westmoor Country Club, and the Wisconsin Special Olympics. Rose balances a competitive atmosphere with an emphasis on teamwork and fun. His goal is to encourage students to achieve success in all areas of their high school experience.

**Tennis
****Kirsten Ruchaber
**Portland, Oregon

Kirsten Ruchaber has compiled an amazing 317-12 record in 22 years as the girls tennis coach at Jesuit High School in Portland. Ruchaber has led her teams to nine Oregon School Activities Association State Tennis Championships, including five in a row from 2005 to 2009. Her 2007 team was recently inducted into the Jesuit Hall of Fame and continues to hold the Oregon State record for points scored at the state championships. Ruchaber is the six-time Metro Coach of the Year and five-time Oregon Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year. In addition to her state titles, Rubacher’s teams have won 17 Metro League titles. Ruchaber believes that athletic involvement is an opportunity to give back to the community. She puts this into practice by volunteering for the yearly Jesuit High School Food Drive at St. Matthew Lutheran Church as well as providing tennis lessons to local children.

**Track and Field
****Sue Hysong
**Avondale, Arizona

“It is within athletics that [students] may learn how to function with others, to do their part and contribute to the whole,” said Sue Hysong, Westview (Avondale, Arizona) High School girls track and field coach. During her 40-year career, Hysong has coached 22 individual state champions and five relay team state champions. In 2011, Hysong was the first female inducted into the Arizona Track Coaches Hall of Fame, and she also has been initiated into the Tolleson District High School Coaches Hall of Fame. She was selected as Region Coach of the Year and NFHS Officials Association Boys Track & Field Official of the Year for Arizona (2012). Hysong views athletic activity as an “additional classroom” to allow young people an opportunity to explore talents and meet individual goals.

**Volleyball
****Iona Stookey
**Worden, Montana

During her 37 years as a high school volleyball coach, Iona Stookey has led Huntley (Montana) Project High School girls volleyball teams to nearly 900 victories. Last year, she led her team to an undefeated season with a record of 32-0. Stookey has led Huntley Project High School to 13 Montana High School Association Class B state championships, and she has been selected 13 times Montana Coach of the Year. She has been inducted into the Montana State University Billings Athletic Hall of Fame (2006) and the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2017). Stookey strives to lead by example and prioritizes excellence on and off the court. This is achieved through her extensive volunteer and leadership work with organizations including the Montana High School Association and the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

COACHES OF THE YEAR – OTHER SPORTS

**Girls Spirit
****Debbie Kishpaugh
**Pendleton, Oregon

On April 13, residents of Pendleton, Oregon celebrate Debbie Kishpaugh Day to honor Kishpaugh’s six consecutive Oregon School Activities Association State Dance/Drill Championships from 2008 to 2013. As the girls spirit coach at Pendleton High School, Kishpaugh practices the philosophy of “heart over talent” in her daily interactions with athletes. In 36 years as a high school coach, Kishpaugh has an impressive resume of honors and awards including Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2017, a Lifetime Achievement, and Pendleton Citizen of the Year in 2010. Her philanthropic efforts as founder of Oregon Junior Dance Team Championships (OJDTC) have raised more than $115,000 in dance and academic scholarships to Oregon Dance Drill Coaches Association. Kishpaugh believes that youth spirit participation leads to a life of character and disciplined learning for participants.

**Boys Other – Ice Hockey
****Dan Shine
**Arlington, Massachusetts

Dan Shine’s influence on ice hockey in Massachusetts cannot be overstated. In addition to leading Arlington Catholic High School’s boys ice hockey team to 575 wins in his career, Shine has chaired the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Ice Hockey Committee since 1991 and served on the committee since 1979. He has also served on the Massachusetts State Hockey Coaches Association Board of Directors since 1983, including time as board president from 1990 to 1992. At the national level, Shine is currently a member of the NFHS Ice Hockey Rules Committee after previously serving from 1999 to 2003. Shine is also Arlington Catholic’s director of athletics, a position he has held since 1977. Among his honors, Shine earned the MIAA John E. Young Award for Distinguished Service in 2012 and was inducted into the Arlington Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 2002.

**Girls Other – Field Hockey
****Terri Simonetti-Frost
**Worthington, Ohio

“I truly believe a coach is someone who not only coaches the sport but also teaches them life lessons on leadership, respect, loyalty, hard work, communication and overcoming adversity,” said Terri Simonetti-Frost, head coach of the Thomas Worthington (Ohio) High School girls field hockey team. She’s held the position since 1999 and has led her teams to 360 victories and five Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships. Simonetti-Frost’s other impressive accomplishments include three state runners-up, 13 Final Four appearances, 18 district final appearances, seven Central Ohio League Championships and seven West Division League Championships. She has developed and created numerous athletic and philanthropic organizations including a youth field hockey program called Weed Whackers and the Winter and Summer Buckeye State Field Hockey League.