(Guthrie Center) A 1996 state football championship goes down as one of the most notable achievements in the coaching career of Brent Meier at Guthrie Center. He’s the guest this week for “Why I Coach.”
Meier began in the junior high ranks for football, basketball, and track. In 1993 he became a varsity assistant football coach and took over the program in 1994. Starting at the lower levels and working his way up benefited him in the long run. “I had an opportunity to work under some great Varsity coaches. I think coming right out of college sometimes you think you know more than you do actually. Not necessarily the X’s and O’s, but how to handle student athletes and parents.”
To have success at the high school level he found it was about much more than sports knowledge. “You have to be a people person #1. You have to be able to handle different situations. It’s important to take care of the little things. Making sure that you are very detail oriented in what you are trying to accomplish and hitting those little things that are very important.”
When his son Andrew played in college at South Dakota that’s when Meier hung it up. “My wife said she was tired of going to ball games by herself. They did lots of traveling and she didn’t like flying by herself. I hated to miss his games so I hung up the coaching aspect of it and got more into administration.”
Of course it was hard to replace the excitement of game day. “Obviously Friday’s are great. Friday night under the lights there’s nothing like Iowa High School football. It’s just a great day in general. The kids are excited, you’re excited. The game and the preparation for the game is a lot of fun. There’s so much work that goes into a Friday night. It’s a lot of fun and obviously the game itself is a thrill.”
Guthrie Center’s state title under Meier’s guidance in ’96 was part of a 21-game winning streak.
https://soundcloud.com/hyoach/brent-meier-why-i-coach
Previous Coaches
John Kesselring, Adair-Casey alum
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Chad Klein, Audubon Native (Kuemper Catholic and Boone)
Jan Jensen, Elk Horn-Kimballton alum
Seth Poldberg, EH-K grad and Guthrie Center coach
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Lanny Kliefoth, Nodaway Valley
