(Griswold) Former Griswold Tiger track star Marc Bierbaum has coached at four different colleges including a stint as head coach of his alma mater Dana. He’s currently at Iowa Western as assistant for track and cross country.
Bierbaum’s career in coaching started at the high school level with Omaha Westside. He soon went to the college ranks and took over the Dana cross country program which was a part time position. Dana holds a special place in his heart. “I loved it. I loved Dana. Everything about it, everything about my time spent running and going to school there, everything about my time there coaching. It was just the family in a small school. It was like being at Griswold, having the close-knit relationships and the community involvement and the family atmosphere. I loved it.”
After Dana closed its doors he spent a five year stint as an assistant at Nebraska-Omaha and then landed his first full-time head coaching position. Missouri Western was launching their cross country and track teams and Bierbaum was the man for the job. “I started the programs from scratch. They didn’t have track. They didn’t have cross country.” He says, “We signed 70-some athletes the first year. That first year was just me recruiting and driving everywhere. There was one trip that was like 1,500 miles, three days, multiple schools, multiple states, multiple meets. There wasn’t a week where I wasn’t at probably two meets a week and a couple of schools. It was fun, it was good.”
Following his tenure with the Griffons, Bierbaum considers himself very fortunate to be right back in his back yard. He’s been with Iowa Western the past three seasons. “A couple changes, a new AD and some new visions with what they wanted to do with the AD and what not. I moved on and got really lucky and got back in Southwest Iowa. This is my home. I grew up 30 some minutes away from Iowa Western at Griswold. I know the area and Iowa Western has grown tremendously. It’s amazing.”
While recruiting can sometimes be a chore, it’s one of Bierbaum’s duties that he enjoys the most. “I do, a lot of people don’t. There are times when it’s tiresome and it’s a lot because it’s non-stop. If you’re going to do it right you don’t really ever stop. I love the stories. I love getting to know people. I love knowing where they are from, who they are, and what their background is. I love the stories. That part of it, the relationship part of it is a huge part of recruiting. For one reason or another that’s been probably one of the most successful parts of my coaching career is I’ve done a good job of building everywhere I’ve been and that takes recruiting.”
Creating a supportive, family feel is his #1 objective in recruiting. Of course Bierbaum wants the best for his athletes and is heavily invested in their success. “Come here, put the work in, take care of the details, and I’m going to help you get better. Sometimes I don’t sleep at night if something doesn’t go right because I’m trying to figure it out in my head and I can’t shut my head off. I’m bound and determined to help the individual get better.”
Previous Coaches
(Click to listen)
John Kesselring, Adair-Casey alum
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Dick Strittmatter, Atlantic native
Chad Klein, Audubon Native (Kuemper Catholic and Boone)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Monte Riebhoff)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Steve Ahrendsen)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Scott Weber)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Curt Mace)
Warren Watson, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Chris Stimson, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Scott Yates, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Jan Jensen, Elk Horn-Kimballton alum
Seth Poldberg, EH-K grad and Guthrie Center coach
Marc Bierbaum, Griswold grad and Iowa Western track/cross country assistant
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Angie Spangenberg, Harlan and Red Oak
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Lanny Kliefoth, Nodaway Valley
Chad Harder, (Walnut Grad) Tri-Center
Josh Abel, (Walnut grad), Tri-Center
Kevin Suhr, (Walnut Grad) Blue Valley High School, KS
