The Green Bay Packers have announced that Tim Strehlow of the D.C. Everest High School in Schofield, Wis., has been named the Packers High School Coach of the Week. The program is presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.
Strehlow, in his seventh year as the varsity head coach of D.C. Everest, has the Evergreens out to a perfect 4-0 start to the season. The team's performance on the field is just as impressive as the work they are doing inside of the school. Over the past few years, Strehlow has built a leadership mentoring program not only for his football program, but all the athletic teams at D.C. Everest. The goal of the program is to empower the student athletes to lead, mentor and set examples to those that are on their team as well as the underclassmen that will someday be in their same shoes. On the football team, Strehlow has invited players to apply to become part of the team Leadership Council, which meets regularly with coaches to prioritize goals, determine community service projects and discuss any issues and concerns with the team.
"We still continue to meet with our kids [in the Leadership Council] daily," said Strehlow. "We still talk about how things are going and what we can improve on, and I really want to get that culture that these kids really do have a say in how their school is run and is moving on, and if there's important topics, to head them off early and to be problem solvers. The culture really is us. If you don't like your culture, well we have to change our culture. Nobody's going to step in and say, 'oh you should do this, or this, or this.' No, we have to buy into it and we have to drive our own culture. I think as a head coach, sometimes people are pretty scared to give up control, but I've noticed our kids have really taken on this role and have done a really nice job. And I would say that some of that has translated into the success that we have been starting to have. You know, take the stress away, take the focus away from football, and let's talk about being good people first."
Strehlow grew up in Weston, Wis., and is alumnus of D.C. Everest, where he graduated in 1995. Strehlow played wide receiver and defensive back for the Evergreens under Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, Wayne Steffenhagen. Strehlow then received a scholarship to play football at North Dakota State University as a wide receiver under coaches Rocky Hanger and Bob Babich. Strehlow graduated from NDSU in 1999. Upon graduation, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for D.C. Everest in 2000 and was later named head coach of the Evergreens in 2017.
Strehlow is honored to win the award, but views it more as an accomplishment of their whole team.
"First of all, this certainly isn't about me, this is about the program," said Strehlow. "This is about our kids, this is about our administration that backs us every single day, our coaches that work so hard every day putting in a tremendous amount of time. Then don't forget about the parents. Everything that the parents have to sacrifice to be a part of high school football. I'm just glad to accept this award for our program. We're only 4-0, we've still got a lot of work to do. We can't get too caught up in where we're at right now, we've just got to keep working, stay positive, keep treating people with respect and hopefully we can keep building."
Strehlow and his staff oversee a program of 140 players with 70 of them suiting up for the varsity games. His assistant staff includes Dave Wanta, Braden Mitchell, Scott Jirik, Todd Bohm, Matt Kleinschmidt, Mike Beyer, Bill Franklin, Ian Weber, Gus Johnson, Berkley Corvino and Jake Coenen. In addition to coaching, Strehlow teaches physical education at D.C. Everest High School. Strehlow and his wife, Vicki, have two sons, Ty and Coy.
About the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week Program:
The Packers will recognize one outstanding high school coach as their 'Coach of the Week' winner during the 2023 high school football season. Winners are awarded several items and privileges, including a $2,000 donation to the school's football program from the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Wild Wings and the NFL Foundation, as well as recognition of the award on Packers.com, Wissports.net and Wifca.org.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 10 a.m. every Monday to Ryan Fencl, Football Outreach Manager, at coachoftheweek@packers.com. Please include the nominee's name, address, school, phone number and reason he/she is deserving of the award.
