Nate Schneider
Sports Scene
Each year almost 1,500 high school and college football coaches from around the state make the trip to Lansing for Michigan High School Football Coaches Clinic.
This year’s coaches get-together was the 46th annual and took place from Jan. 18-20 at the Lansing Center/Radisson Hotel.
Three of the winningest coaches in state history were honored in John Herrington (Farmington Hills Harrison), Al Fracassa (Birmingham Brother Rice) and Tom Mach (Detroit Catholic Central).
Keynote speakers included Big Ten Conference head coaches Paul Chryst (Wisconsin), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State). Other collegiate head coaches in attendance included Tim Lester (Western Michigan), Matt Mitchell (Grand Valley State) and Tony Annese (Ferris State).
Among the prep coaches in attendance was Coleman’s Chad Klopf, who went to the final day of the event and took away plenty of positives.
“You’re always looking to add something,” Klopf said. “This year I went in looking to add something to our run game. You don’t always get a lot of things when you attend, but you’re trying to get one thing. Maybe it’s a wrinkle. Maybe it’s a new concept. I think we picked that up. We’re not going to completely change our offensive scheme, but we found something that will help us do it better.”
Coleman enjoyed back-to-back 7-3 playoff seasons in 2013 and ‘14 before slipping to 1-8 the subsequent two years. After improving to 3-6 last season, the Comets are looking to push forward further next fall.
“You always want to go in with the mindset of seeking out coaches who can provide something that can help your team become better,” Klopf said. “Or just coaches that you haven’t seen for a long while and want to catch up with. All of that, plus listening to major college coaches speak, it’s a fantastic experience.”