Two weeks ago, along with many of my high school teammates from the mid-1980s, I attended a $100/plate dinner at my hometown’s Convention Center in Brookfield, Wis. Seven of us, hailing from 5 states, convened (some for the first time in 3 decades) for the Brookfield Central High School (BCHS) Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet to watch our friend & 3-sport teammate, Shaun Manego (second from right in the photo below) go into “The Hall.”

Coach Ralph Mierow is 4th from right in the class of 2025 inductees to Brookfield Central High School’s Hall of Fame.

The 2025 class also included 3 coaches, bringing the total number of BCHS coaching “HOFers” to 15. While my high school career was lackluster (though the least-talented captain in basketball history and possessor of an anomalous football stat line), I played under one-third of coaches in the HOF. (Oh, and feel free to ask about that stat line any time, I’ll be happy to share it with you if I haven’t already…)

There were a lot of great moments that evening, but the HOF acceptance speeches by the newly inducted coaches — as well as the heartfelt praise from the other inductees for the coaches who drew out their best decades earlier — were especially moving. As we tipped a few back after the ceremony, several of us commented on the impact our coaches made on thousands of adolescent lives — in what must have occasionally felt like thankless and tireless work.

Meet Coaches Ralph Mierow … & John Wooden 

Coach Ralph Mierow

An assistant basketball coach by the name of Ralph Mierow was one of the 2025 coaching inductees. While he arrived after I graduated, I knew a few things about him as an associate pastor at Elmbrook Church and from his teachings at the annual Men With No Regrets Conference. Mierow's inaugural coaching season in 1987 — of the 9^th grade squad — recorded 0 wins and 15 losses. But still, the varsity coach and athletic director found reason to extend his contract. That faith in him paid off; Mierow would become a trusted lieutenant for 3 head coaches he called mentors during a 37-year career that included 10 state finals berths and a state championship.

Following his acceptance speech, I asked Coach Mierow for a copy of his remarks on the anecdote shared about the late coaching legend John Wooden of UCLA fame. Here is an excerpt from Ralph’s speech:

“Lew Alcindor, who'd become known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, had graduated. Many felt he gave UCLA an unfair advantage because he was considered the best college player in the nation for several years. In fact, the dunk was abolished for a while because of him. UCLA had won 3 titles in a row and many thought once Alcindor was gone, UCLA would be a ‘normal’ team.

“In the interview prior to the season, a reporter asked Wooden, ‘Coach, how successful do you think your team will be this year?’ Wooden responded, ‘That depends on what you mean by success. If you are asking how many games we'll win, we'll win our fair share.  But if you're asking how successful this team will be, come back and talk to me in 20 years, and I'll let you know.’

“Wooden verbalized his philosophy that coaching is not merely about racking up wins,” says Mierow. “More importantly, it is about pouring into the lives of the athletes you get to coach.”

John Wooden

Growth & Results

When reflecting on the best coaches (or teachers or managers) it wasn’t the ones who let me skate by without expectation that I remember most. Instead, it was the ones who called me out for my B.S., challenged my drive, motives and desire and, yes, even called me names to get the fire going. One memorable coach even used modest corporal punishment at the end of a highly competitive drill. It was more fun to be on the winning end of that drill — which included the winners hurling balls at the losing squad’s backsides. 

I supposed there were a few times that I needed a cheerleader, but I admit today that the butt-kicking was far more directional and effective. Going easy on one doesn’t inspire them to “level up.” But accountability, and setting — and directly managing toward higher expectations — got many of us to "punch above our own weight." 

Another of my longtime friends and teammates, now living in Arkansas where he went to play football and forever stayed, recently told me that he’s STILL trying to live life up to the expectations of our coach —  to this day. The last time he his whistle was 38 years ago, but he still cites him as the one responsible for driving him —  and driving him hard —  to reach his potential.

Today's Application

Too often today today's crop of managers seem to equate being “tough” or “demanding” with “meanness.” A rare few may not need outside motivations, but most of us, I’d argue, achieve greater heights when a trusted party expects more — and insists that we “level up” and grow. And even put us in situations where we struggle   — to see how we react and learn.

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel & Command Pilot Kim Nichole Reed-Campbell shared the following words in her keynote speech at the Conservation Technology Information Center conference last month in Sioux Falls, S.D.  “We can be strong, and we can be compassionate at the same time,” she says. “We can be tough, and we can be kind.”

It reminded me of one of my favorite movies about the media business, In Good Company. In the closing scenes of the movie, the upstart executive, Carter Duryea, thanks the old relic who became his unplanned-for mentor, despite being his subordinate on the org chart.

“For what?” asks Dan Foreman of his former boss’ thank you.

“For, I guess, showing me a few things,” replies Duryea. “No one ever really took the time to give me a hard time before. Or teach me anything that was worth learning.”

In the 2006 film, this next-generation prodigy, growing up in a different era, had passed up and through the corporate ranks, presumably without the guidance — coach, teacher, boss or whatever you want to call it — granted to prior generations. 

Respect for the Role

Coaching — and managing — is a headache-inducing, tireless game. 

So, if you’re a manager, embrace your noble duty and remember that the aptitude of your staff — even if they don’t appreciate it today — rests in your ability to motivate, direct and bring out their very best. 

And if you’re on the other end, recognize the role and responsibility of those overseeing you, and why they might be inclined to get in your grill now and again and hold you accoutable — for both your personal and professional gain. 

And when you’ve got a good one, count your blessings. They may just be a dying breed in a world that no longer appreciates "older-school" styles …

Side note: Click here to watch the best clip on the business of magazine advertising sales — and best line — in movie history. Watch to the end!

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