Outside Looking In
Minneota girls' basketball coach Chad Johnston, who has one of the state's all-time best winning percentages at .844, was recently asked what he thought about New London-Spicer coach Mike Dreier getting his 1,000th win on Friday night against Watertown-Mayer.
Johnston just earned the 470th win of his career with a 53-39 win over BOLD Saturday afternoon in Olivia.
Dreier, 70, is in his 44th year of coaching at NLS, a Class AA school, and has had only one losing season, his first year when the Wildcats went 3-15. Dreier's career record now is 1,002-185 after winning on Saturday against St. Clair and again on Monday against Rockford. He is closing in on Bob McDonald's state's high school record of 1,012 wins. McDonald coached boys' basketball for 59 years, mostly with Chisholm, until he was 80 years old.
Johnston, 50, is in his 21st season coaching at Minneota and has a career record of 470-113, an .807 winning percentage.
What does it take to coach 20 years and what type of a coach does it take to coach 40 years? Commitment and obsession.
Dreier, whom I have known for over 30 years from my time as a reporter and sports editor at the West Central Tribune in Willmar, is one of the most detailed-oriented coaches I have ever worked with. He is a stickler for statistics and if you asked him something like how many career assists one of his players had, he could get you the information in a hurry. Dreier's son Joey, who has been Mike's varsity assistant for five years, told me his dad is obsessed with game film of his own team and his opponent and can often be found at 1 a.m. watching film or planning for the next game.
My father once told me that the difference between an average coach and a good coach is how well they can adjust on the fly. And the difference between a good coach and a great coach is how well they adjust their game plan at halftime to what occurred in the first half. These are huge strengths of both Dreier and Johnston.
The ability to game-manage, organize and coach on the fly are key reasons why these two men have been so successful. And neither of them will take credit for their success, instead crediting the assistant coaches, players and parents.
When Dreier received the John Wooden Legacy Award by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association earlier this year, he never told anyone. His family found out about it online later.
When Johnston received the Class A Coach of the Year award last year, the Mascot found out about it online. Some coaches would have made sure it became public knowledge.
Dreier and Johnston aren't coaching to build a resume for themselves. They love what they do and want what's best for the girls.
Minneota is 20-2 this season, while NLS is 17-2. Johnston is slightly ahead of Dreier in the number of state championships, 3-2. Dreier has taken 18 different teams to state.
Johnston would have to coach at least 20 more years to amass the 1,000-or-more wins that Dreier and only 12 other girls' basketball coaches in the nation have amasssed.
"When you look at what he has done, it's incredible," Johnston said about Dreier. "When I hit 400 wins, I thought it would be hard to get to 500 because I would have to average 25 wins for four more years. I have three boys that I want to watch play, and I love to hunt and fish, so I am just taking things a year at a time. I can't do this forever."
To put Dreier's number of wins in perspective. Myron Glass of Rochester Lourdes, who retired in 2014, is second all-time among Minnesota high school girls' basketball coaches with 684.
Ironically, neither Dreier nor Johnston was able to coach a daughter in the sport. They both have three sons. One of Dreier's other sons, Matt, is head girls' basketball coach at Annandale. The father-son coaching clash will be held on Feb. 8 in New London.
Among the hundreds of basketball coaches I have worked with in my career, these two rank at the top of my list for more than just wins. It's more what they have meant to their respective communities and programs.