 |
| Prior to discovering my football roots. |
My late grandfather, Howard “Chick” Kolstad was born in 1914. He attended Eau Claire State in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (now part of the University of Wisconsin system), a tri-athlete who played football, basketball and baseball. The 1937-38 BluGolds basketball team was the first undefeated Conference Champions in the history of the college. In 1939, his senior year, Chick was awarded “All-Around Athlete.”
Chick Kolstad went on to coach at five high schools before becoming the head coach of St. Norbert College in 1960. He was known as a fierce competitor in the small De Pere, Wisconsin private college. Kolstad produced a 96-76-5 record mainly against scholarship-level opponents during his nineteen-year tenure. Until 2009, he held the most wins since the college first fielded a team back in 1931.
A football family.
My grandfather developed the St. Norbert College program into a powerhouse football team. It attracted good players and tough schedules. Practices were hard, too, and as one player said, “they often drew blood.” My grandfather’s reaction according to a St. Norbert College alumni article; “Blood makes the grass grow!”All of the Howard Kolstad family participated on game day. The oldest child, my aunt Colette, was assigned to program duty. She was responsible for getting fans to purchase roster sheets for that day’s match up and later advanced to the role of statistician. My grandmother and aunts Jane and Cathy helped out in the concession stands. Uncle Pete filmed the games and both he and my dad, John, were charged with tending to the original St. Norbert Minahan Stadium’s cinder track, which meant digging holes to drain water from the inner most lane.
Regardless of his stern demeanor and relentless expectations, Coach Chick Kolstad is fondly remembered. In that same college magazine article, published in 2004, SNC class of 1970 alumni and 1970-75 Green Bay Packer, Larry Krause, credits much of his success to Kolstad, whom he remembers as an incredible football coach and an even more incredible man:
“He coached at St. Norbert for nineteen years and he could tell you every player he ever had, and what they all did with their lives after they left St. Norbert,” Krause says. “He had a passion for St. Norbert and his players like none I have ever seen since. He had a very unique ability to instill his passion for football into his players and get the most out of each one.”
“He went way above what any other person would have done and definitely helped me make the team,” Krause says.
When Krause broke his jaw during his third year with the Packers, the first person to meet him after surgery was Coach Kolstad. “He even beat my wife to the hospital! On the other hand, I did not even get a call from any of the Packer coaches,” he recalls.
When St. Norbert College upgraded their football facilities in 2010, it was an honor to see the new practice field named as a tribute to the first generation Kolstad coach, my grandfather, Howard “Chick” Kolstad.
 |
| St. Norbert College football tributes |
The second generation, John Kolstad, soon followed his footsteps.
My dad was born in 1957. Dad also was a tri-athlete during his high school years at Abbott Pennings. He attended St. Norbert College and competed in both track and field and played quarterback for the Green Knight’s and his father—my grandfather. John Kolstad graduated in 1975 and went on to coach football and track beginning at West De Pere High School, a public school just south of Green Bay, Wisconsin, as an assistant. He won five championships coaching alongside longtime friend Bill Turnquist. The school reached state playoffs in 1981 and 1983, loosing both times to the eventual state champions.John won 110 of 184 games and was 89-49 in the former Fox River Valley Conference appearances. In nineteen years, my father experienced only four losing seasons and qualified for the WIAA playoffs ten times. His tenure included ending a 35-game winning streak for Manitowoc, Wisconsin’s high school, one of the conference teams.
My dad also had the honor of coaching an historic 100th match-up between Green Bay East and Green Bay West on Sept. 17, 2005. That game resulted in both Coach Kolstad and Green Bay West’s coach Chris Witteck jointly being named Green Bay Packers High School Coach(es) of the Week. Dad retired in 2006 after serving as the longest tenured coach in the school’s 110-year history.
Both my grandfather and father were inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame; Howard “Chick” Kolstad in 1985 and John Kolstad in 2009.
 |
| My grandparents and dad. |
Some pretty big shoes to fill.
The family business has now been passed down to the third generation. Both my older brother, Ben Kolstad and I coach football.Like our father who was coached by his father, we played at Green Bay East High School during the years our father was coach. Ben and I were quarterbacks in addition to stepping into defensive roles.
Ben attended UW-River Falls seven years before I, where we both played for the Falcons. After graduating with a degree in Physical Education, Ben moved to North Carolina where his wife was pursuing post-graduate work.
Ben is currently head coach at Sanderson High School, a public school in Wake County, North Carolina.
I graduated from UW-River Falls in 2007 and joined Ben as Cary's defensive coordinator in 2009 following two years on the West De Pere staff. Ben gave me the defense and I basically took it and ran. During the three years I was with Cary, our defense ranked in the Top 10 in North Carolina and it was ranked No. 1 in 2010.
Between us, Ben and I have three sons and one daughter. Only time will tell what’s in store for the next generation.
 |
| Ben (right) and me in our pre-coaching days. |
