By Cynthia Scott

If you want to stay young, try coaching high school sports.

While thatís not exactly the stereotypical view of what coaching does to a person, itís true for longtime North Branch High School Coach Bill Baumann, who after 32 years still loves what he does.

Last week the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association honored Baumann for his contributions to coaching by naming him the recipient of the prestigious Butch Nash Award. The award has been given annually since 1984 to assistant football coaches who have demonstrated longstanding dedication to high school football. The award is named after Butch Nash, the long-time University of Minnesota assistant football coach who is legendary for his dedication and ability to inspire. The award will be presented at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet at the Doubletree Hotel in Minneapolis on April 9.

Baumann is the offensive coordinator at North Branch High School, and he was nominated for the Nash Award by head coach Joel Swanson. Baumann is also the head basketball coach at NBHS, where he teaches social studies.

ìIím excited about it. To receive something named after Butch Nash is a great honor,î Baumann said.

Baumann, whose gruff, intense on-field persona is strikingly different from the gracious, casual guy he is off the field, says the ìPeter Pan Syndromeî has kept him in coaching this long.

ìI donít want to grow up. Coaching keeps me young. There are always new kids, new things, new opponents. Itís a constant chess match. Itís fun to keep working and try to get the most out of the kids. I consider all the kids my ìsonsî and I also consider the field or the court as another teaching station.î

Baumann began his career in 1973 as head football coach at Villard, Minn. But even before that stint, he learned a valuable lesson about teaching and coaching: itís good to be loud. He says heís loud because he tries to teach the kids to make a weakness a strength.

ìWhen I was student teaching I received excellence in every category except voice projection, so at that point I decided to make a weakness a strength. I am loud coaching and I am loud in the classroom. Itís like that commercial on TV about the banker and how his workers want to be just like him‚ - just not as loud.î

Baumannís loudness is part of a package that includes high expectations for hard work, precision and dedication to teamwork.
ìPhysical mistakes are okay. If someone beats you because theyíre bigger or faster, thatís okay. Mental mistakes are not okay. We try to build on that all the time. Mistakes of aggression are okay. Mistakes of omission are not. If you do something once itís a learning experience. If you do it again, itís a mistake,î Baumann said.

He includes himself among those who have plenty to learn. As offensive coordinator for Coach Joel Swanson ever since Swanson arrived three years ago, Baumann says he has learned a great deal.

ìI have learned more from Joel in the last three years because his perspective is different. His football style matches what I try to do in basketball, which is to teach the game, not just the xís and oís. Weíre always trying to do new things.î

As Swansonís assistant, Baumann tries to be what he himself wants in an assistant: a thinker who is willing to engage in a rousing give-and-take, whether or not itís what the head coach wants to hear.

ìI donít want yes people, I want people who will challenge me. As head coach itís my job to sift through their suggestions. Itís the same thing I try to do in football,î he said.

No teacher or coach, Baumann included, can know for sure how he or she impacts a young personís life, and in that regard Baumannís profession is something of an act of faith. ìI hope my players think Iím knowledgeable. That Iím fair - tough but fair. That theyíve learned something about life from me,î Baumann said.

And, as Baumann recently learned, when a former player tells you outright that youíve made a difference, itís doubly rewarding. Last November, Baumann received an e-mail from Mike Gaffaney, who is a coach and fifth-grade teacher at Yellow Medicine East in southwestern Minnesota.

ìBill,î Gaffaney wrote,î I have been going to do this for about five years! Thank you for all that you did for me when I was in high school. As I look back on the three people that influenced me the most, you were one...You drove me to work harder than I thought I could and motivated me to never give up. I know you had a lot of influence in me being selected on the all-state teams, and getting to look at a number of colleges. These things have opened doors for me over the past 25 years. I have had the opportunity to coach and teach and I love doing it.î

Baumann pulls out a pen and underlines the sentence that means most to him and smiles: ìYou drove me to work harder than I thought I could and motivated me to never give up.î

Not a bad formula at all for staying young. Just ask Bill Baumann.

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