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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
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'I can't wait for the season' At 70 and entering his 48th season as a head coach, Warriors' Stolski still has a passion for the game Sports Editor Ron Stolski turned 70 last week but age is only a number in the eyes of a man who has been a head football coach longer than any other person in Minnesota State High School League history.
When practice kicked off Monday at Brainerd High School it marked the start of Stolski's 48th season as a head coach, his 35th at BHS. Roughly three weeks of practice precede the season opener, Sept. 4 at home against St. Cloud Tech.
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Brainerd Warriors head football coach Ron Stolski encouraged players on the opening day of practice Monday. Stolski begins his 48th season with 311 career victories, which rank second in Minnesota State High School League history. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Despite coaching for virtually his entire adult life Stolski shows no signs, nor has any intentions, of slowing down.
"We just finished three mornings of eighth and ninth grade football," Stolski said last week, "two evenings of sixth and seventh and one of fourth and fifth. In between, we've got staff meetings and we hand out gear.
"I feel great. I can't wait for the season. When I was at (Harvey Shew Field) at Franklin (Art Center) the last few days I was reflecting on my early days at Kensington and Slayton. The locker rooms (at Franklin) had that smell, that look, because it's an older school. We're ready to go."
Stolski discussed a few football-related topics on the verge of another season.
Jason Freed is an addition to your staff this season. What can you tell us about Freed, who replaces Mike Langer, who retired, as the lead sophomore coach?
He was the state Nine-Man coach of the year last year and led Houston to the state championship. The first time I met him was at a clinic. We happened to be sitting together, we started to chat, and I put that in the back of my head.
This year Brainerd plays regular-season games on a Saturday (homecoming), Wednesday (teachers' conventions) and Thursday (final game of regular season). The sport of "Friday Night Lights" won't be so Friday night this fall.
For whatever reasons the schedule has been adjusted but that's true for everybody.
One of the lessons we've learned in coaching all these years is to control the controls. The things you can't control you just need to adjust accordingly and make things work.
This year Section 8-5A has only six teams (Brainerd, Buffalo, Cambridge-Isanti, Elk River, Moorhead and St. Cloud Tech). Alexandria and Bemidji have been reclassified to sections 8-4A and 7-4A, respectively. Do you like a 6-team section?
I don't like it. I've been a been proponent of 8-team sections ever since we started sectioning, put the top 64 (teams in Class 5A).
A reasonable complaint against that is if we go top 64 ( in 5A) then you're going to get some school with a population of 900 in 5A that conceivably could play Eden Prairie with a population of 3,300. In terms of Brainerd we are always going to be in the top whatever.
The reason I don't like six or seven is the whole bye business. Whether we get the bye, or whether someone else gets the bye, I think you ought to have a structure where all people play through. Look at how many 5A and 4A sections will have byes (all eight in 5A, five in 4A). That's too many. It's a tremendous advantage (to have a bye).
TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis opens Sept. 12. Will it be a boon for the Gophers football program?
I haven't been in a lot of stadiums in my life, but it's just a spectacular place. It's a new stadium but it has the feel of a football stadium that's been there a long time. Whether it's a boon is for someone else to decide, but certainly it's going to be a boon for Gophers fans, the people in Minnesota, because the Gophers are part of the fabric of our life. And, when I say Gophers I mean not just football, but U of M athletics are important to us, regardless of what school you graduated from.
It's just a remarkable place, yet it doesn't feel like there's anything in there that ought not to be. It seems like a no-frills place. True, the locker room is huge, but fans don't see that. The sight lines are incredible, not just of the field but of the skyline of Minneapolis and St. Paul. You can actually see the new Twins stadium, you can see the dome.
You're executive director of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association. The Vikings' lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season. If the Vikings leave and the Metrodome ceases to exist has the MFCA discussed how that would affect the high school playoffs?
Two or three plans are being bandied about. As an association there are a number of options.
First is to back the season up. I'm not in favor of that. I think we start soon enough. If we back the season up we would have to go into early August. Personally, I don't like that. But if we don't have a roofed stadium it will get pretty difficult to play in late November, given the playoffs are 5-6 games now.
"Another option would be to increase the number of games you play during the (regular) season by doubling up a couple weeks. That's a very difficult thing to do and still it would only save a week or so.
"The biggest thing is surfaces. There would be surfaces around but with different surfaces you don't have the seating capacity.
"We haven't talked to the 'U' but I'm pretty confident they would be amenable to their field being used, provided the Gophers weren't playing.
"I think we will still have state playoffs. I think we will find a way. It may not be the most comfortable way we're accustomed to. We will have to do some adjusting and tweaking, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.
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