photo by David N. Seelig 

Woebegone Wolverines discover their spirit

Football coach Mike Glenn has injected new life into the Wood River Valley’s struggling team. Terry Smith investigates the renaissance of the Wolverines. Photos by David N. Seelig.

When it came to football, the Wolverines were truly woebegone.

Prior to the 2005 season, that was pretty much the consensus around the valley. The hapless Wood River High School football squad was on a 14-game losing skid, and over the last two seasons had been outscored by an embarrassing ratio of nearly six to one. There was talk of scrapping the program altogether and converting the football stadium into a soccer field. These Wolverines hardly lived up to the school mascot’s image as a snarling, voracious little beast.

But, just like magic, something happened in the days approaching the start of the 2005 season. Enthusiasm for football appeared out of nowhere. High school kids started wearing T-shirts with the words “Wolverine Rage” emblazoned on them. Newly discovered fans eagerly awaited the season opener. When it arrived, the Wolverines trounced the Filer Wildcats 42-0. Later, the Wolverines lifted a long-standing curse with a 16-0 victory over the Jerome Tigers, a team they hadn’t beaten in 30 years. The snarling, voracious little beast had come to life.

So what was the catalyst for this dramatic transformation? Those in the know agree. The change can be summed up in two words: Mike Glenn.

Glenn was hired as the Wood River High School head football coach prior to the start of the 2005 season. He had impressive credentials and was generally regarded as one of the best high school football coaches in Idaho. At least one applicant for the job withdrew from the running at the mere mention of his name. He last coached at Eagle High School, near Meridian, where he led the Mustangs for 10 years and amassed an impressive 72-36 record. Under his leadership, the Mustangs won state Division 5A championships in 1998—when the team tallied an 11-1 record—and in 2001 with a spotless 12-0 mark.

Credentials aside, Glenn brought something more important to the Wolverine football program, something that had long been lacking: enthusiasm.

“He’s a players’ coach—just a big, solid, enthusiastic guy, who will bring discipline to the program and get kids involved, make them want to be part of it,” said Ron Martinez, WRHS athletic director at the time Glenn was hired. “Mike Glenn is one of the best football coaches in the state. He could probably coach at a college level,” said Martinez, who had known Glenn for several years.
The Wolverine football program was ready for a change. And so was Mike Glenn.

Rebuilding the Wolverines

Glenn, now 47, is a California native. He played football in college as an offensive guard for Utah State University, where he graduated in 1982 with a degree in health education. That same year, Glenn and his wife, Becky, a Boise native, moved to Idaho where Glenn took a job coaching Boise’s Bishop Kelly High School team. Following stints at Lake Hazel Junior High and Centennial High, Glenn landed the head football coach job at Eagle in 1995.

Despite his impressive accomplishments at Eagle, Glenn left the school under less-than-ideal circumstances. His 2004 Mustangs finished the season at 6-4, lackluster for a team used to winning, and they were shut out 21-0 by Boise’s Capital High School in the state 5A playoffs. He had earlier applied, unsuccessfully, for the head coach job at Capital, an action that earned him the displeasure of Eagle administrators. At the end of the 2004 season, Glenn resigned.

He flirted with the idea of college-level coaching, but jumped at the chance when the WRHS job became available.

“As soon as I resigned (from Eagle), I felt the world lifted off my shoulders. And as soon as I drove into the Wood River Valley, I knew it was the place. The facilities were great. So was the quality of life. And the administration went out of its way to show I was wanted.” It was also, he considered, a serious challenge.

In accepting the WRHS head coach position, Glenn took over a sorrowful program. “It was pretty bleak. In fact, there was talk of turning the football stadium into a soccer stadium.” But with a wily coach’s eye, Glenn saw potential. “There’s a lot of people in the valley who have a real strong tie to football. If there were no interest in football up here, I wouldn’t have taken the job. One of the really neat things about this valley is they provide a lot of recreational activities for kids, and that’s a good thing.” Glenn also saw lots of kids involved in nontraditional sports such as hockey, soccer and lacrosse. What he needed to do was to get them interested in football as well.

One of his first moves was to beef up the coaching staff. The previous WRHS program had seven coaches, Glenn insisted on 10 before he accepted the job. Now he has 12.

He brought with him long-time protégé John Rade, his defensive coordinator at Eagle. Rade also has impressive credentials. He played nine seasons (1983-1991) in the National Football League as a linebacker with the Atlanta Falcons. Before that he played two years at Boise State University and is now listed in the school’s hall of fame.

Glenn also recruited Ketchum civil engineer Jeff Loomis, a former Moscow High School football coach who played linebacker at Washington State University. “He just rode up on his bicycle one day and introduced himself,” said Glenn.

Other important initiatives Glenn has instigated so far include improving the high school’s weight-room program, starting summer football camps to help jump-start regular season play, and actively recruiting players already involved in other sports.

To do the latter, he attended and supported all types of sporting events around the valley. He talked football to the kids, football to the parents and football to anyone who would listen. And when Mike Glenn talks football, it’s hard not to pay attention. The force of his personality can hold one spellbound.

But new coaches, new emphasis on training and enthusiasm are not the only things Glenn has brought to the table. He has brought a new philosophy about the game, one that he only honed himself in his waning days at Eagle High School.
 

Winning isn’t everything

The “winning is everything” philosophy doesn’t cut it with Glenn, an attitude that seems unorthodox in a sport dominated by John Madden types with their “just win, baby” mentality. Glenn believes that focusing everything on winning causes too much stress. Building the boys into men is more important than winning. And Glenn believes the football field is a good place to do that.

“Winning takes care of itself. I’m more about helping kids grow up to be adults. If you can teach a young person to make sacrifices for something that’s bigger than themselves—that’s invaluable. You can’t put a price on that,” he said. “There has to be a product, and the product is not a state championship. It’s individuals. It’s about taking whatever you get out of football and transferring it into life. It’s about building up the kids—not just the kids that play football—but all the kids. The world is a cruel place and there ain’t no gimmees. Once you leave high school, you’ve got to earn it. Football is a good teacher for life. Football’s very emotional and requires a lot of hard work. Sometimes you hurt and don’t feel good. But a man gets it done even when he doesn’t feel like it.”

Glenn no longer views being a football coach as just a job. He sees it as “a calling.”

“Being a football coach is a lot like being a minister,” said Glenn. “You have to get involved with the kids, the parents and what’s going on with the family. With some of these teenage boys, the football coach can have a bigger importance on their lives than their parents.”

Taking an active interest in the lives of all his players, and not just the star athletes, has given new force and enthusiasm to a previously impoverished football program. The kids seem to like it, too. Following a weeklong football camp in June, some 60 players ate pizza while seated at picnic tables at the practice field.

“He brought the rage,” said sophomore Kevin Cortez. Cortez described “the rage” as a combination of anger, energy and enthusiasm. “He put so much energy in us so we could play. He brings it all together.”

Evan Puluti, a freshman who just moved to the Wood River Valley from California, said Glenn and the other coaches treat the players with respect and make playing football fun. “They care about us, too.”

Freshman Will Baker described the football team as a family. “The coaches are here to help us,” he said.
 

Glenn finds a new home

The Wolverines finished the 2005 season at 4-6, not quite a winning season but good enough for a team used to losing. But the enthusiasm, the school spirit and the Wolverine Rage are back and optimism is high for the 2006 football season, which begins August 25.

Assistant coach Loomis said Glenn’s enthusiasm for football is contagious. “I think what he’s trying to do, and is having success doing, is bring school spirit to Wood River High School.”

Glenn and his family have decided to settle here and he recently bought a house in Woodside. Glenn talks freely about feeling truly blessed to be able to make the Wood River Valley his home. “Look at the wind blowing through the aspen trees—and the mountains behind them. Isn’t this a beautiful place? It’s a real privilege to live here.” The Wolverines, it would seem, are the privileged ones.

Wood River Wolverines’ 2006 season home games take place Friday nights at 7 p.m. on August 25, September 1 and 22 (Homecoming), and October 20.