Now it's time to showcase the coaches. Here's a look at MaxPreps' choices for the greatest high school coach of all-time in every sport.
Canyon's Joe Lombard is the greatest girls basketball coach of all-time, winning 19 Texas titles with a record of 1,379-133 in 42 seasons. He's been inducted into six Halls of Fame, including the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. (Photo: Tim Dennis)
If the 151-game win streak
isn't enough to rank Ladouceur as the greatest high school football
coach of all-time, try on these stats: 11 national championships; 5
state championships; 28 North Coast Section championships and a career
record of 399-25-3 (.934).
Boys basketball — Morgan Wootten, DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.)
Spending
46 years at DeMatha (1956-2002), Wootten ended his career as the
nation's winningest high school basketball coach (since passed) with
1,274 wins and just 192 losses. He won national championships with the
Stags, captured 22 Washington D.C. championships and claimed 33
Washington Catholic Athletic Conference crowns.
Girls basketball — Joe Lombard, Canyon (Texas)
With
42 years on the sideline, 35 of them at Canyon, Lombard racked up
eye-popping numbers. He had a career record of 1,379 with 133
losses. He won 19 Texas girls basketball state championships (13 of them
at Canyon, six at Nazareth). He's been inducted into six Halls of Fame,
including the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Baseball — Rich Hofman, Westminster Christian (Miami)
Winner
of two national championships at Westminster Christian, he's also collected
eight total state championships in Florida. He's been named national
coach of the year seven times and is a member of five Halls of Fame. His
career record of 1,020 wins is the most in Florida history. He also has
had over 50 players drafted with 12 playing in the Major Leagues.
Softball — Gary Adams, Crescent (Iva, S.C.)
He's won more games than any coach in any sport in South Carolina
history during his 43 years at Crescent. He won 1,043 games with only
169 losses. His teams have won 19 state championships, including 11 in a row
from 1987-97 and he also won 33 consecutive region championships.
Boys wrestling — Bill Martin, Granby (Norfolk, Va.)
Known
as the "Father of Wrestling" in Virginia, Martin won 21 state
championships from 1949 to 1970. He was a pioneer in the sport,
inventing the "Granby" move and other techniques that are still in use
by wrestlers all over the country. He had 105 state champions, five
future NCAA champions and one Olympian.
Girls wrestling — Tony Carter, Hanks (El Paso, Texas)
Carter
has coached boys wrestling for over 30 years, but has been a pioneer
in the sport of girls wrestling where his Hanks squad won six straight
Texas state championships. Carter has been recognized as national coach
of the year.
Boys lacrosse — Mike Messere, West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.)
The
all-time winningest coach in the sport with a record of 846-85, Messere
also won 15 state championships and 33 sectional crowns in his 43 years
of coaching. He also had 11 undefeated teams and his team
holds the longest win streak in national history with 91 wins in a row.
Girls lacrosse — Kathy Jenkins, St. Stephen's & St. Agnes (Alexandria, Va.)
She went over 800 career wins in 2019, making her the winningest girls
lacrosse coach in U.S. history. She has 24 conference tournament
championships, 21 league titles, six state championships and eight
undefeated seasons.
Boys golf — Edward Lynch, Simsbury (Conn.)
A coach
for 35 seasons, Lynch won 813 matches in his career along with nine
state championships. Lynch has won more games than any high school golf
coach in the country.
Girls golf — Sister Lynn Winsor, Xavier College Prep (Phoenix)
In
48 seasons at Xavier College Prep, Sister Lynn has won a total of 37
state championships including 16 in a row at one point. Her teams also
won over 255 consecutive matches in a row.
Boys soccer — Terry Michler, Christian Brothers (St. Louis)
No
coach has won more games than Michler, who had a record of 1,023 wins,
296 losses and 118 ties in 50 years of coaching, mostly at Christian
Brothers. His teams have won nine state championships.
Girls soccer — Carlos Giron, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
The national leader with 861 career wins in the sport, Giron has also won 15 state titles and seven national championships.
Girls volleyball — Ron Kordes, Assumption (Louisville, Ky.)
In
34 seasons at Assumption, Kordes has won 22 state championships and six
national crowns. He has a record of 1,219 wins and 131 losses.
Boys volleyball — Chris McLachlin, Punahou (Honolulu)
A
former basketball coach at Punahou where he coached future U.S.
President Barack Obama, McLachlin also won 11 state championships in
boys volleyball.
Boys swimming — Dick Hannula, Woodrow Wilson (Tacoma) now Silas (Tacoma, Wash.)
Hannula
won 26 state championships in swimming, 24 in a row at Wilson, and had a
streak of 323 dual meet wins. Hannula also managed two Olympic swim
teams and one Pan American Games team during his 41 years of coaching.
Girls swimming — Jeff Meister, Punahou (Honolulu)
A
member of the National High School Hall of Fame, Meister led the girls
swimming team at Punahou to 19 state championships to go with 18 state
championships in boys swimming.
Boys track and field — Earl Quigley, Central (Little Rock, Ark.)
Little
Rock Central has won 50 state championships in track and field in its
history, most of them under the direction of Quigley, who also coached
baseball, basketball and football. His squad won 18 straight state
championships at one point and had a streak of 97 straight dual meet
wins.
Girls track and field — Don Norford, Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.)
No coach in
California history has won more state titles in any sport than Norford
with 18 state championships, including 13 in girls track. He also
coached 61 individual state champions and over 150 Southern Section
individual champions.
Boys cross country — Joe Newton, York (Elmhurst, Ill.)
A
coach for 61 years, Newton won 28 cross country state championships in
Illinois and was named national coach of the year four times. He also
won 20 national championships.
Girls cross country — Bill Aris, Fayetteville-Manlius (Manlius, N.Y.)
Coach
of the boys and girls programs at Fayetteville-Manlius since 1998, Aris
has lifted the girls program to national prominence over the past 24
seasons. His teams have won 13 state championships and 11 Nike Cross
National championships including seven in a row from 2006 to 2012.
Field hockey — Sue Butz-Stiven, Emmaus (Pa.)
Prior to the 2022 season, Butz-Stiven had a national record 1,000 career wins with 82 losses and 35 ties during a 46-year career. She's won 13 state championships and her team is 166-3 since 2015. She also has won 38 District 11 championships including 32 in a row.
Boys gymnastics — Bob Manning, Lawrence (Kan.)
Manning led Lawrence to 21 state championships in gymnastics and had a national dual meet win streak of 116 in a row.
Girls gymnastics — Nola Ayres, Sehome (Bellingham, Wash.)
Ayres led Sehome to 22 state championships in 25 seasons. She also lost just one meet in her entire career at Sehome.
Boys ice hockey — Bill Belisle, Mount St. Charles Academy (Woonsocket, R.I.)
In 45 years of coaching hockey, Belisle won 32 state championships, including 26 in a row from 1978 to 2003. He won 1,000 matches in his career to lead the nation in all-time wins.
Girls ice hockey — Dave Palmquist, South St. Paul (Minn.)
Palmquist has won four state titles and has nearly 500 wins in his 26 years of coaching. His South St. Paul team once won 86 games in a row.
Boys tennis — Kirk Price, Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.)
Price won a total of 22 state championships as the head coach at Cherry Creek. Add in 13 state championships as an assistant and Price has been a part of 35 state titles. Four times at the state meet, Cherry Creek swept the singles and the doubles competition. Under Price's watch, Cherry Creek built a 316-match winning streak.
Girls tennis — Jeff Holman, Haddonfield (N.J.)
Holman led the girls program at Haddonfield to over 1,200 career dual match wins to go with 43 conference championships and 19 state championships.
Boys water polo — Bill Barnett, Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Barnett coached 49 seasons at Newport, winning 10 Southern Section titles for the boys team and five more for the girls. He also coached in the Olympics, leading Team USA to a Silver medal in 1988.
Girls water polo — Brent Bohlender, Johansen (Modesto, Calif.)
Bohlender had 1,666 wins in swimming and water polo, including over 1,200 in boys and girls water polo combined. His girls teams won four straight Division 1 Sac-Joaquin Section championships in the late 1990s and won 128 straight matches.
