When New Haven High School offered its head boys basketball job to Ray Steinhoff, he threw everybody a curve. “I didn’t think I was ready and turned it down,” said Steinhoff, 25 at the time. “Fortunately, the superintendent didn’t give me a choice. I still remember his words: ‘If you don’t take it now, I’ll… Read more »
News
Category: Coaches
Dave Steinmeyer
It began innocently enough. Fresh out of college, Dave Steinmeyer was asked for his interest in coaching a high school tennis team. Not that he had been around the sport in high school or college. “The guy at Webster Groves (High School) didn’t want to coach tennis anymore,” Steinmeyer recalled. “They asked if I’d be… Read more »
Norm Stewart
Stewart grew up the son of a station owner around the small farming community of Shelbyville and graduated from high school there in 1952. After high school Stewart enrolled at the University of Missouri, becoming a standout in both basketball and baseball for the Tigers. Stewart was a two-time team captain, and all-Big Seven selection… Read more »
Melissa Stokes
Back in her tucked-away office hangs a display that reads, “I learned to win by learning to lose – that means not being afraid of losing.” For Missouri State volleyball coach Melissa Stokes, it’s a reminder of her third season on campus. Of her 21 seasons on campus, that was the only time the Bears… Read more »
Bob Stolzer
There’s an old saying in sports that goes something like this: Never forget who helped get you here. Whenever former Ste. Genevieve High School football coach Bob Stolzer kicks backs and reminisces about times gone by, rest assured that he lives by that motto. Names of former assistants, players, administrators and community leaders crop up… Read more »
Hank Stram
Hank Stram can easily be labeled one of the most successful coaches in the history of professional football. Stram served as the Head Coach and Vice President of the Kansas City Chiefs for 15 years, leading them into two Super Bowls. Stram has been honored numerous times for his successful coaching career including: the AFL,… Read more »
Mark Stratton
[For details, check out our flier] In the summers of his youth, a broken axe handle served as his makeshift baseball bat, while his family’s front yard in Monett was a daily sandlot. And, even if his youth team wasn’t scheduled to play, he’d throw on his wool uniform and bike to the city field,… Read more »
Steve Tappmeyer
A Gerald native who played on the 1974 Owensville High School state championship team, Tappmeyer compiled a 460-238 record (.659) coaching NCAA Division II men’s basketball from 1988 to 2013. That covered 21 seasons and a program-best 408 wins at Northwest Missouri State, where his teams reached 10 NCAA Tournaments, with two appearances in the… Read more »
Betsy Taylor
The first time she picked up a tennis racket was when her teenage sister took to the courts in Carthage and, soon, Betsy Taylor fell in love with the sport. Unfortunately, the high school didn’t offer tennis for girls when she arrived as a freshman. “We didn’t have any sports for girls when I was… Read more »
Bertha Teague
Born in Carthage, Mo., she coached the Byng High School basketball team in Ada, Oklahoma for 42 years (from 1927 to 1969) with a career record of 1,157-115 (.910 winning percentage). Her teams won 8 Oklahoma state titles and 98 consecutive games from 1936 to 1939. She was named Coach of the Decade for the… Read more »
Bill Thomas
Bill (Jinx) Thomas carved one of the notable records in the entire history of Missouri State University athletics, with involvement in the basketball program which spanned nearly three decades. Coming to then-Southwest Missouri State University in 1950 as a transfer from Westminster College, the Buffalo native was a three-year starter for the Bears at guard.… Read more »
Mark Thomas
Back in 1981, after his first head football coaching job made him realize that he wasn’t ready to be a head coach, Mark Thomas got a call from none other than Jefferson City High School coach Pete Adkins (MSHOF Legend 2013). On his way to becoming the winningest coach in state history, Adkins needed an… Read more »
Victor Thomas
In 2001, Lincoln University in Jefferson City was seeking a coach for its track and field program. At the time, a young, energetic coach from Jamaica had been working as an assistant at a college in North Carolina and was looking to take the next step. “I got a job interview,” Victor Thomas recalled, “and… Read more »
Brent Thomas
In the summers in Marshfield, about 25 minutes east of Springfield, Brent Thomas and his brother, Craig, would ride their bikes to the fairgrounds and offer to be fill-ins for summer league baseball teams. “We also organized our own baseball league with teams from the east side, west side and south side of Marshfield,” Brent… Read more »
Suzy Thompson
Some folks spend their days with the serious, gung-ho look of a drill sergeant. Others simply stay on an even keel. And then there is Suzy Thompson — all smiles and full of energy. But can you blame her? Thompson has lived a dream as a longtime cheerleading coach at Macon High School and the… Read more »
Kurt Thompson
Sometimes, a job that you don’t pursue ends up being the spring-board to huge success. Which is why Kurt Thompson’s start as a head football coach seems almost to believe. Back in 1990, at age 23 and after his second season as an assistant coach at Webb City High School, Thompson’s phone rang one February… Read more »