Logo
Genesee Generals hockey coach Doug Towler, far right, celebrates his record 630th win with family Dec. 23.

Career Wins Record Reflection of Towler's Dedication to Genesee County HS Hockey

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

January 10, 2024

Jeff Rouse called his former hockey coach Doug Towler one of the most intense people he’s met. 

Bay & Thumb“He was a (butt)-kicker,” Rouse said. “You knew Doug was the boss. If you weren’t listening in practice, you were skating, or he was breaking hockey sticks over the net.”

But when Rouse had the opportunity to attend a party celebrating Towler setting the MHSAA all-time coaching wins record recently, he and some of his former Grand Blanc teammates, who played for Towler during the 1980s, made sure to be there. And to see the emotion on Towler’s face as he walked into Madden’s Bar in Davison greeted by dozens of his former players made it more than worth it.

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Doug Towler as a coach, and even as a friend after,” Rouse said. “He’s always been a good dude. … We’re all just fortunate to have been blessed to skate for the man.”

Hundreds of players at Flint Northern, Grand Blanc, Davison and now with the Genesee Generals – a second-year co-op team with athletes from Davison, Flushing, Goodrich and Swartz Creek – have had the opportunity to play for Towler over his more than 40-year career. And on Saturday, Dec. 23, they all became part of history.

The Generals defeated Bay Area Thunder 3-2 that night, giving Towler his 630th career victory, sending him past Mike Turner of Trenton for most all-time for a hockey coach in Michigan. 

Towler knew it was on the horizon, but didn’t want to bring attention to it – “That’s so Doug,” Rouse remarked – as he didn’t want to put extra pressure on his players.

But when he stepped into Madden’s, it all started to get to Towler.

“When I got to the party that they had, it was a surprise, obviously,” said Towler, who now has 631 wins. “I got there and I see the guys I work with at (IMA Brookwood Golf Club), and I see some old players, and it did kind of hit me a little bit. It was, honestly, it was great. It was a fun night. A couple of the (Flint) Powers coaches came over after their game, and there was a Grand Blanc coach there, and so it was a nice night. There were a lot of laughs, a lot of stories. And I’m sure, you know, over the years, those stories have gotten bigger.”

One doesn’t need to exaggerate when telling tales of Towler’s career, though.

The Sarnia, Ontario, native played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire and signed with the Chicago Blackhawks organization, playing in their minor league system for two years. His pro career took him to Austria, but he returned to North America to play for the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League. After one full season with the Generals and an injury-shortened second IHL season played in Flint and Saginaw, Towler joined the coaching ranks, taking over the Flint Northern program in 1979.

After two seasons at Northern, he spent a decade at Grand Blanc, winning three Regional titles between 1981-91. He took over the Davison program in 1992, and over his 30 years with the program he’s won eight Regional titles, made four trips to the Semifinals and two MHSAA Finals appearances.

“I played for him for three years, and I’ve known Coach Towler for a long time, and personal accolades were never on his radar,” said Albert Mitchell, who played for Towler from 2001-03 and helped Davison finish as Finals runner-up in 2002 and 2003. “He was always about wanting to make guys better hockey players, and better young men.”

It’s that philosophy that not only helped Towler win more games than any other hockey coach in the state – Traverse City Central’s Chris Givens is second among active coaches, and entered the season with 428 wins – but made so many former players want to be there for him when the milestone was celebrated.

“It’s safe to say that, for me, I don’t believe I would have ever played high school hockey if it wasn’t for Coach Towler,” said Mitchell, who went on to play at Elmira College in New York and is now the coach of the Fenton-Linden Area high school team. “Coach Towler is somebody that my dad respected and he wanted me to play for, and fortunately I did. I was fortunate to go on and play at the next level, and without Coach Towler, I don’t think I would have been able to do that.”

As fun as the party was, it came dangerously close to not being a celebration of a new record. The Generals led Bay Area 3-0, but allowed a pair of third-period goals that put the game in doubt. Assistant coach Ryan Welch, who had helped arrange the afterparty, said there were some extra nerves down the stretch.

“Was I nervous? Hell yeah, I was nervous,” Welch said with a laugh. “We had planned it two weeks before, and we played Friday and Saturday of that week, so we had to win both of them. We ended up winning 3-2 in Tawas and won 3-2 in Bay City. One of the coaches, Tony Perry, he rarely says anything, and he was chirping the whole game. I do think there was a little bit of nerves with everyone. Doug had his whole family here, and I’m sure our kids were nervous – we didn’t play the very best. Everyone was a little bit nervous because they wanted to be a part of this history.”

Welch, who played for Towler from 2002-06, is one of his three longtime assistants, although his 12-year tenure is much shorter than the others. Both Tony Perry and Charlie Eakes have been with Towler for more than 30 years.

Welch, Rouse and Mitchell all marveled at Towler’s ability to span multiple generations of athletes during his time as a high school coach. But they all are less surprised that Towler could pull it off, and more in awe of what he’s done.

“He’s had a lifelong commitment to the game of hockey at the high school level,” Welch said. “Usually, coaches start to have a little success and they move on. He’s had a lot of patience throughout the years. That tells you that he enjoys coaching these varsity athletes. It takes a tremendous person these days to stick with it. Over 40 years, the generations have changed, and he’s had to change the way he does things. It shows his love for the game of hockey, it shows his love for the community and his commitment to the Genesee County area.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTO (Top) Genesee Generals hockey coach Doug Towler, far right, celebrates his record 630th win with family Dec. 23. (Photo courtesy of the Davison athletic department.) VIDEO Towler addresses his team after a 2020 win over Flint Powers Catholic.

4 Thrusts: In Motion, On Track in 2013-14

December 20, 2013

By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director 

During the fall of 2012 at Update meetings across Michigan, we described “Four Thrusts for Four Years” – four health and safety emphases that would help us keep student-athletes healthier and also get a seat for Michigan’s policies and procedures for school sports on the train of best practices – an express train that is moving faster than we've ever seen it toward more cautious practice and play policies and more educational requirements for coaches.

At this December’s meeting, the MHSAA Representative Council examined a first quarter report card – what’s been accomplished during the first year.

It has been a remarkably strong start, but it’s only a start.

The first thrust, improving management of heat and humidity, received a boost last March when the Representative Council adopted a “Model Policy for Managing Heat and Humidity.” It has been promoted in print, online and at face-to-face meetings; and the response of schools has been nothing short of outstanding. 

This rapid acceptance by school administrators and coaches reflects their appreciation for a clear policy that identifies the precise conditions that call for adjustments in activities, and lists specific actions to be taken when temperature and humidity combine to reach un-safe levels. Gut and guesswork are gone.

The second thrust, raising expectations for coaches’ preparedness, is being advanced in three ways.

In May, the Representative Council adopted the requirement that by the 2014-15 school year, schools must attest that, prior to established deadlines, all assistant and subvarsity coaches at the high school level have completed annually the same MHSAA rules meeting required by all varsity head coaches or, in the alternative, one of the free online sports safety courses posted on or linked to MHSAA.com and designated to fulfill this requirement. This popular change is only the first component of this critically important second thrust.

The second component is this. The Representative Council voted in December to require by 2015-16 that MHSAA member high schools certify that all of their varsity head coaches of high school teams have a valid (current) CPR certification, with AED training as a recommended component.

As this requirement was discussed at constituent meetings, the question was frequently raised: “Why just head coaches?”

“Why indeed,” is our response. If a school has the will and resources, it most certainly should make CPR a requirement of all its coaches, as some school districts have required for many years.

CPR training is conveniently available near almost every MHSAA member school in Michigan. Still, the MHSAA will begin offering CPR certification (with AED training) on an optional basis as an extension of Level 1 of the Coaches Advancement Program (CAP) during 2014-15.

The third component of this thrust is scheduled to go before the Representative Council in March. The proposal is that all individuals hired for the first time as a varsity head coach of a high school team, to begin those coaching duties after July 31, 2016, must have completed the Coaches Advancement Program (CAP) Level 1 or 2.

The MHSAA will track compliance and prohibit varsity head coaches from attending their teams’ MHSAA tournament contests if they fail to complete this requirement, beginning in the 2016-17 school year.

In cases of very late hiring, schools may substitute two online courses of the National Federation of State High School Associations – “Fundamentals of Coaching” and “First Aid, Health and Safety.” However, that coach must complete CAP Level 1 or 2 within six months of the hiring date.

These feel like big steps to some people in MHSAA member schools – “too expensive” or “another obstacle to finding qualified coaches,” some say; but these are baby steps. 

This barely keeps pace with national trends. Michigan’s tradition of local control and its distaste for unfunded mandates has kept Michigan schools in neutral while schools in most other states have made multiple levels of coaching education, and even licensing or certification, standard operating procedure.

The three initiatives to upgrade coaches education in this critical area of health and safety over the next three years only nudges Michigan to a passing grade for what most parents and the public expect of our programs. We will still trail most other states, which continue to advance the grading curve.

And for a state association that is among the national leaders by almost every other measure, it is unacceptable to be below average in what is arguably the most important of all: promoting athlete health and safety by improving the preparation of coaches.

The third health and safety thrust is a focus on practice policies to improve acclimatization and to reduce head trauma; and the fourth thrust is a focus on game rules to reduce head trauma and to identify each sport’s most injurious situations and reduce their frequency.

Because of the critical attention to football on all levels, peewee to pros, our first focus has been to football with the appointment of a football task force which has effectively combined promotion of the sport’s safety record at the school level and its value to students, schools and communities with probing for ways to make the sport still safer.

The task force proposals for practice policies are receiving most attention and will receive Council action in March (and will be published on Second Half over the next few weeks). But the task force also has assisted MHSAA staff in developing promotional materials that are already in use, and the task force pointed MHSAA staff to playing rules that need emphasis or revision to keep school-based football as safe as possible.

During 2013-14, all MHSAA sport committees will be giving unprecedented time to the topics of the third and fourth thrusts and, when necessary, a task force will be appointed to supplement those sport committee efforts.

Frequently Asked Questions About CPR Certification 

Q. Who is authorized to provide CPR certification?
A. The MHSAA does not dictate which organization must provide the CPR education and certification. However, the Michigan Department of Human Services lists the following organizations that are approved to provide CPR training:

  • American CPR Training: www.americancpr.com
  • American Heart Association: www.americanheart.org
  • American Red Cross: www.redcross.org
  • American Safety and Health Institute: www.hsi.com/ashi/about
  • American Trauma Event Management: www.atem.us
  • Cardio Pulmonary Resource Center: 517-543-9180
  • Emergency Care and Safety Institute: www.ecsinstitute.org
  • EMS Safety Services: www.emssafety.com
  • Medic First Aid: www.medicfirstaid.com
  • National Safety Council: www.nsc.org
  • Pro CPR: www.procpr.org


Q.

 How expensive is the certification?
A.  $0 to $75.
 
Q. How long does certification take?
A. Two to five hours.
 
Q. How long does the certification last?
A. Generally, two years.
 
Q. Does the MHSAA specify the age level for the CPR training?
A. No. Generally, the course for adults alerts candidates of the necessary modifications for children and infants, and vice versa.