3 Michigan Coaches Earn NFHS Honor
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 16, 2019
Three Michigan high school coaches with long histories of championship success were honored Wednesday with 2018 National Coaches of the Year awards presented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NHFS) Coaches Association.
Midland Dow boys tennis coach Terry Schwartzkopf, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep girls volleyball coach Betty Wroubel and Bloomfield Hills Marian and Birmingham Brother Rice golf coach Leon Braisted III – formerly the longtime coach of the girls and boys programs at Birmingham Seaholm – earned three of the 22 available NFHS awards and have led their programs to a combined 13 MHSAA Finals championships.
The following brief bios include excerpts from each honoree’s coaching philosophy, which they were asked to submit after being identified as candidates for the awards.
Leon Braisted III began coaching both the girls and boys Birmingham Seaholm teams in 1998 and guided those programs through the 2015-16 school year. He led the Maples girls to Lower Peninsula Division 2 championships in 2006, 2008 and three straight from 2013-15, and also to five runner-up Finals finishes. His Seaholm boys team was Division 2 runner-up in 1999. Braisted has coached the Bloomfield Hills Marian girls the last three seasons and the Birmingham Brother Rice boys the last two, leading Marian to a Division 2 runner-up finish in 2017. Rice finished seventh in Division 1 this spring. Braisted was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015.
“An athletic program opens the door for students to become involved in different sports. Any sport the student joins is quite a learning experience. A coach through practices teaches the players to be ‘team players and learn the rules of the sport.’ During the practices and playing the sport, players learn tolerance, become alert to their surroundings, and most importantly (the sport) offers exercise. As a golf coach for 21 years I recognize that golf is a lifelong sport. The player learns patience, perseverance and (the sport) motivates the individual to desire to improve (his or her) game. At the beginning of each new season, I encourage the students to join in participating on a golf team. I do not turn any students away from being on the team whether they know how to play golf or not. There is much one can learn from being a teammate and facing the challenge of self- improvement, along with meeting new friends. Joining a sports team is more than just excelling on the field. It is the ability to meet others, a place and time where a person can enjoy the moments away from the rapid pace of daily life.”
Terry Schwartzkopf took over the Midland Dow program in 2007 after seven years leading the junior varsity. He guided the Chargers to five straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 championships from 2009-13 and a sixth title in 2016. He was named the statewide boys tennis Coach of the Year in 2017 by the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association and led Dow to unbeaten seasons in 2010, 2011 and 2014. His team finished fifth at the Division 2 Final this fall and tied for second in 2017.
“I believe that the sport is irrelevant when it comes to coaching. Granted, specific content knowledge is imperative to success, but coaching is about creating a stable environment in which young individuals can mature as individuals and athletes. I believe that athletics help individuals learn how to cope with loss, cope with success, and how to work to achieve a goal. It allows them the ability to feel that they contribute to something greater than themselves, to put team before self, and serves as something that unites players regardless of age or circumstances. Due to this mindset, our teams tend to be a tight-knit bond of individuals who help each other to succeed. In fact, this year alone I have had seven alumni return at various times in order to work with the team, desiring to give back to the program. In fact, my original captain returned to serve as a volunteer assistant coach this year. These legends give faces to the names that my players have heard stories of as they continue to unite this team past, present, and future. … The records, trophies, and competition are a wonderful part of the game of tennis, but the real victories come in watching these young boys turn into productive men willing to serve others, live with integrity, and exhibit character and sportsmanship both on and off the court.”
Betty Wroubel is the third-winningest coach in MHSAA volleyball history at 1,486-308-130 after leading the Fighting Irish to a 64-6 record and Division 2 runner-up finish this fall. She started her varsity head coaching career in the sport at Clawson, guiding that program from 1979-82. She then led the Pontiac and Oakland Catholic program from 1989-94 and has coached Notre Dame Prep since its first season in 1994-95. Her teams won Class B titles in Fall 2007, 2013 and 2017. Wroubel also coaches the softball team – she led Pontiac Catholic to the Class C title in 1983 – and serves as Notre Dame Prep’s athletic director. She was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014.
“My philosophy of athletics has changed considerably since I started coaching and has continued to change throughout my career. I believe that athletics provide a powerful vehicle to teach and prepare our student athletes not only in sport, but more importantly in life. My responsibility has never been solely to teach my players to play and love the sport of volleyball, but rather to pursue their passion for something they love and how to grow as young, strong females today – to prepare them to handle disappointment, failure, adversity and stress in a healthy manner and success with a humble heart. As important as it is to help the players develop their game skills, it is far more important to help them in their personal growth journey, to prepare them for a world that will be very different than the one I grew up in, and to create a team-oriented culture in a world that is all about ‘me.’ … I try to teach and empower my players to believe in themselves, embrace all opportunities of both success and failure, and how to achieve what they once considered unimaginable; to work hard, be humble, grateful, forgive oneself, forgive others, and always strive to be what God created them to be.”
Three more Michigan coaches earned honors in Section 4, which includes Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Hartland wrestling coach Todd Cheney led the Eagles to the Division 1 title in 2016 – the school’s first in his sport – while Dexter swimming & diving coach Michael McHugh has led his school’s boys program to four MHSAA titles including three straight in Lower Peninsula Division 2. Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer coach Brianna Verdoodt led her program to its first MHSAA title, also in Division 1, in 2018 after Stevenson finished Finals runner-up in 2017.
The NFHS has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.
Football Helped Bond Father & Son, But Fermans Will Meet As Rivals 1 More Time
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 14, 2022
For about 2½ hours Friday night, Jeremy and Bryce Ferman will be opponents.
During that time, it will be about North Branch and Almont battling to remain unbeaten on the football field. About getting another win in the Blue Water Area Conference.
It will be a football game they try to treat like any other football game.
But immediately before and immediately after, their dynamic will be a much more familiar one, and one that was strengthened by the sport: father and son.
“I love him more than anything,” said North Branch coach Jeremy Ferman. “Just to see him over there, that part of it right there is special. Just to see how he’s grown up and the person that he is – the young man that he is. But yeah, once kickoff goes, it’s game on. We’re both competitive people. We probably hate losing more than we enjoy winning.”
Bryce Ferman is a senior running back and linebacker at Almont. He’s also a captain.
He grew up on the Almont sidelines, as his dad turned the Raiders into a perennial power. From 2004-15, Jeremy Ferman led Almont to the playoffs eight times, including trips to the Semifinals in 2011 and 2014. The Raiders won five BWAC titles, three District titles and two Regional titles during his time there.
And that success was made more special by the fact Bryce was right there for all of it.
“There’s a picture of him wearing an old headset, and it wasn’t working, but he had it on,” Jeremy Ferman said. “Some reporter took a picture of him and said, ‘Coach Little Ferman making the calls.’ It’s definitely been in his blood.”
As the Fermans were strengthening their father-son bond through football, Bryce also was soaking in lessons of how to be successful on and off the field.
On it, all he knows is winning. Almont has been to the playoffs every year since 2010, including a run to the Division 5 Final in 2019, Bryce’s freshman year.
As a player, he’s won a pair of postseason games – one during his sophomore year when he was called up late in the season, and one as a junior. This year, the Raiders are off to a 3-0 start.
“I learned how a good, sound football team should run,” he said. “I mean, that’s what my whole life has been. I’ve never been around a poorly run or structured team. It’s always just been that every year the playoffs were expected, and that’s how it still is.”
The greater lesson learned on those sidelines, though, was how to be a leader. It’s something he focused on as he worked to be part of Almont’s leadership team heading into his junior year.
“We had to go through interviews, write letters, all the stuff that really prepares you for jobs and everything,” Bryce said. “What I wrote my letter on is how I saw all these leaders growing up. That’s all I know. That’s all I know how to be.”
Watching his son make the most of those lessons has been a point of pride for Jeremy Ferman.
“To watch him mature, to watch his leadership – as a dad, it’s pretty (darn) special,” he said.
Following his time with Almont, Jeremy Ferman spent a year apiece with Durand and Flint Kearsley before taking over the North Branch program in 2017. Over his first five seasons, Ferman has taken the Broncos to the playoffs four times, including a run to the Regional Final in 2020. Prior to his arrival, the program had three playoff appearances all-time.
“Every year, I expect him to win – I mean, that’s all he does,” Bryce Ferman said. “That’s all he does.”
The benefit of the two now competing in the same conference is that they get to compare notes on other teams. And having grown up around football, Bryce has become quite a student of the game. The two break down film together regularly, and even when their teams or opponents aren’t involved, their viewing experience involves analyzing the action on the field. Jeremy Ferman remarked that he would welcome Bryce on his coaching staff, whenever he’s done playing.
So while this week there will be no talk of strategy, there is normally plenty of it.
“We both played Imlay City already, I played them the week before he did, and he picked my brain a little bit and we watched film together,” Jeremy Ferman said. “I help him out with personnel, and vice versa. He’s helped me out. We talked about Hamtramck (Almont’s Week 2 opponent, which North Branch plays in Week 5), a little bit. … He wants me to be successful, and I want him to be successful, as well.”
The common opponents also give Jeremy Ferman a chance to see his son on film as he’s breaking down other teams.
“I always have my dad hat on, but my coaching hat kind of gets bigger sometimes,” Jeremy Ferman said. “I have a job to do there. But yeah, you’re watching film and he’s playing against them, and I’m peeking. I’m seeing what he’s doing and then I’ll say, ‘Oh crap, that’s right. I’m Dad, but I’m the head coach right now.’”
Friday night’s game won’t be the first time the two have squared off. A year ago, North Branch defeated Almont 20-14 in a hard-fought game.
That doesn’t make this upcoming matchup any easier, of course, but the Fermans are approaching it in the same way.
“I want him to have the best game of his career Friday night, but I want NB to win the game,” Jeremy Ferman said. “That’s the best of both worlds in this situation. … He’s going to run his (tail) off this Friday night, and he’s going to block, and he’s going to be the leader because that’s what is expected of him.”
Added Bryce: “It doesn’t matter who I’m going up against. When we’re out on the field, between the lines, we’re playing football. But from before and after the game, (this week) is a different story. And that’s with a lot of the kids up there, too. I mean, I know a lot of them. But it doesn’t matter when we’re between the lines and we’re playing.”
Paul 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.
PHOTOS (Top) North Branch coach Jeremy Ferman and Almont junior Bryce Ferman hug after last year’s matchup between their teams. (Middle) Jeremy Ferman, then the coach at Almont, accompanies Bryce across the field about a decade ago. (Photos courtesy of the Ferman family.)