Fired Coach Expresses Thanks to Supporters

This atricle was written by Gerry Boylan.

As much as I try to avoid clichés, I often find myself repeating well-worn phrases, such as: This situation has a lot of moving parts, or we're playing multiple level chess. Recently, my favorite expression to toss out there has been: Life doesn't go in a straight line.  This is my way of grappling with the contrast of joy and pain that life invariably hands all of us, particularly when you get past middle age. 

This expression came to mind as I heard a story about a man I've known since childhood and truly one of the good guys I've known through his entire life. His name is Dan Hoff and if you're part of the Boys and Girls Club family, you may recall the Hoff name. 

Dan is a natural athlete. He was the kid, who from the first time you played ball with him, you knew he was in a different league. He's the kid that is so much better than the rest of us, you knew he'd land up playing past high school in whatever sport he loves. 

In the early 1960s, Dan grew up, like all of us did, leaving his house in the morning to play and coming home only for lunch and when the street lights came on. In Dan's case, he would head straight down Wilson Avenue to the Boys Club on Lincoln Street, which was his second home. Dan was not only a naturally gifted athlete, he worked harder than anyone else. That's a combination for greatness. 

But what made Dan special beyond his skill and work ethic was he was just a very nice, well mannered person. Don't get me wrong, he was a very competitive, intense guy and that fire showed up when winning was the issue.

I believe that you can tell what kind of grown-up a kid will turn out to be very early in life. Dan is a good example. He went on to high school stardom at U of D High School, then on to a successful D-I career at Eastern Michigan University in basketball, while playing two years of baseball.  He played and coached post-college in Australia. He eventually returned and started a family and a teaching career in Mattawan in western Michigan. Oh, and he coached. Over 27 years he compiled a record of 334-225.   
          . 
Those are high school Hall of Fame numbers, folks. But mostly he built character in kids with an uncompromising and unchanging approach that required respect, hard work and more hard work. 

After 27 years of building character in teenagers, Dan was recently fired from his coaching job.  

I bet you know the story; there were complaints from a few parents. I don't pretend to know the specifics of this story, but I know how this plays out because I've seen it way too many times.  Rather than dig into the very small minority’s complaints, or as Dan put it, discern their complaints, it's just easier for an administrator to blow out decades of dedication and success, not measured by wins, but by the respect of the thousands of lives touched by a great coach and mentor. 

I know that the number is thousands because shortly after Dan was fired, a grassroots group of supporters started a Facebook page and within a couple of hours, a thousand supporters had signed up to back Dan. Over 2,800 people have "liked" the page.  That's an incredible outpouring of support. 

Dan wrote a very touching and insightful letter about this experience and his career in coaching.  Over half the letter is filled with acknowledgments by Dan to colleagues, parents, players and community members, which in itself, says a lot about Dan. What also struck me was the articulate and authentic manner this educator, teacher and developer of young people's character presented his feelings. Its old school and filled with pure class.  (I edited out paragraphs of individual mentions for brevity, but as mentioned, they were many.)

Here is Dan’s letter:

On Monday, May 20, Greg Saunders, Rob Kuhtz, Pier Dossena, and I met with the Mattawan Board of Education to present facts concerning the decision involving my termination as varsity men's basketball coach. There were things that we needed to say to truly characterize the actions of many people associated with the decision. We said those things, and the Board members in attendance heard our presentation. The Board members then chose not to make a motion to vote to overturn the decision of the superintendent and the director of human resources.

In light of that decision, it is time for me to express my heartfelt thanks to a large number of people. I first especially wish to thank my beautiful wife Lyn, and my fabulous children, Katie and Thomas, for your sacrifices in sharing me with the wonderful student-athletes with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the last twenty-seven years.

I wish, too, to thank those many special players--from Mark Hancock back in 1986-1987 to Andy Miller in 2012-2013--who have worked so hard and with such incredible loyalty, and who have succeeded in life in so many ways, making proud all of us who have been associated with Mattawan Hoops. Guys, I cannot put into words the intense love that I feel for you and the gratitude that I feel for the fabulous memories with which you have provided me and for the immensely positive impact that you are having on the world. I must proudly say, too, that having the opportunity to coach my own son, Thomas, a true scholar-athlete, was a blessing beyond words: thank you, Son.

I wish to thank the amazingly skilled, talented, and passionate assisting coaches, who over the years, have so successfully helped to mold the lives of our basketball student-athletes: you coaches, my friends, have consistently held our players accountable to become the best that they could become, and you have not compromised your principles, even under intense "scrutiny."

Throughout my tenure as the head coach of the Mattawan Men's Basketball Program, I have lived true to my calling to help young boys in their teenage years grow into men. I have not sheltered them from the challenges that life presents, I have not coddled them as some have suggested that I should, I have not sugar-coated the message that success comes from hard work and persistence; I have held them to high standards and have endeavored to help them to achieve more than they themselves thought that they could achieve, and I have not hesitated to fight for them when I felt that school leadership was short-changing them or inadequately supporting them.

Through these changing times in our society and the move by "leadership" to do things for political expediency and to avoid "rocking the boat," I have held firm to the notion that to make the world the best that it can be, we have to help our children and our young adults to be strong in the face of adversity; we have to teach them how to put the drain plug in their boat of life before embarking on the adult portion of life's journey; otherwise, if they are waiting for someone else to put that plug in, they can blame someone else as long as they wish, but the boat has still sunk and lives have been lost.

I cannot live with myself nor face my own children or my students or players if I am not honest with myself and if I do not fight for what is right, even in the face of societal weakness and selfishness. I have fought the good fight, and I have no regrets.

Dan is everything I would want for my children and grandchildren in a teacher and a coach: He is a man of unyielding integrity, intelligence and skill. Strangely, I gain some hope from this story. So many members of the Mattawan community and beyond have stood behind Dan and his integrity that maybe the tide can start to turn against the selfishness of the few. I hope so.
 
Let me end by trying to bring a smile to Dan and his family.  While Dan’s accomplishments in athletics, teaching and coaching are numerous, I believe his shining moment was his first television appearance, somewhere around 1964. This was way before everybody had their fifteen minutes of fame via YouTube and reality shows. 

Dan hit the big time on the very small black and white screen that we in Royal Oak were all watching. Dan was invited to show his free throw shooting skills on Johnny Ginger, or Poopdeck Paul (I’m not making that name up.) I can’t remember how he did, but we all thought this skinny, little kid had to be going somewhere, he had been on TV! 

We were right. 

For another coaching story, in a lighter vein and featuring some old school Royal Oakers, you may be interested in visiting my website. The link is: 

http://www.gerryboylan.com/2010/10/a-real-american-football-story-with-a-twist-o

It’s Monday: Let’s go!

Gerry Boylan is the author of Getting There and Gerry Tales available at Amazon.com and the Yellow Door in Berkley. www.gerryboylan.comv