A sad farewell to Coach Magnuson

by Dave DeMars

news@thenewsleaders.com

For Bill Magnuson, head football coach of the Sauk Rapids Storm, the year 2000 – the start of a new millennium – was really a time of change and uncertainty.

Sixteen years ago, he donned the green and gold and thus began a long-time association with Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. But as the old saying goes, all good things come to an end.

For Magnuson and his family, the time has come to move on. Magnuson will no longer be growling encouragement during sweaty two-a-day practices or barking encouragement to Storm players on cold October nights from the sidelines. That will soon be some other coach’s job.

This year, Magnuson will wear the red, white and blue of the Pequot Lakes Patriots as he takes on the responsibilities of science teacher and assistant football coach at Pequot Lakes High School. For Magnuson, the change is bittersweet.

Why now?

There will doubtless be many in the Storm community who will wonder why he is choosing to move. But the reason for moving has to do with location. Magnuson grew up in Park Rapids and his wife is from the Oklee-Plummer area near Thief River Falls.

“There has always been a little bit of a desire to get farther north, especially in the lakes and pine country,” Magnuson said.

When he got the call from Pequot Lakes just before Memorial Day to interview for a job as a science teacher and coach, it was a pleasant surprise. His sons are still in elementary school, and if ever there was going to be a move, it had to be before they reached high school.

“We would never try to move them once they started high school,” he said. “We thought this was probably the best opportunity we were going to have to get up north and be closer to family.”

By moving to Pequot Lakes, he will be 45 minutes from Park Rapids where both he and his wife have extended family. Magnuson sees Pequot Lakes as being very similar to Sauk Rapids when he first moved here in 2000.

“They have fabulous facilities, a lot of school pride, a lot of community support, and they’ve done well in a lot of athletics, but I think the thing I’m most excited about is again making a difference in young men and women’s lives,” he said.

Reflections on Sauk Rapids

Magnuson’s assistant coaches, John Rasmussen and Loren Finlayson, have been with him since he started in Sauk Rapids.

“I definitely am going to miss that bond and that relationship, along with all the other coaches I’ve had,” Magnuson said.

He said he will miss the time on the field and in the locker room and hallways with the players and the Storm football families, as well as the administration and the students in his science classroom. He said they’ve been unbelievable in their support of him thoughout the years.

“To say goodbye to kids you consider your sons is tough to do, but I think if we taught them well, they understand that sometimes in life these things happen, and we keep moving forward,” Magnuson said. “I challenge them to work hard and be the best they can be.”

On coaching

Ask Magnuson about his coaching style and what makes a successful program, and he grows philosophic.

What he said he is most proud of is the development of young men, he said. They are taught a lot of life skills, things like being classy and doing the right thing. Those are the skills that are important and will help these young men later in life, he explained. Those are the things he is most proud of.

What kind of game plan does he prefer on the field?

“I do like to run the ball, to pound the ball,” he said. “That’s hard to do in our league because there are some very good teams.”

He said he likes to develop players and explain why they are running a certain play, or why keeping their head up when they block is important. He says he is not a huge yeller though he admits to having a loud voice which he uses when it’s called for.

“I raise my voice when I need to, but I would say I’m a lot more calm and more of a loving coach,” Magnuson said.

Class sizes at Pequot Lakes range about 100 to 125 per class, whereas Sauk Rapids is about 360 per class. He says he looks forward to the opportunities the move presents. The science classes will be about the same as when he first started teaching in Windom many years ago.

One of the nice things about Pequot Lakes school is that it is fifth grade through 12th grade building meaning that the middle school is attached to the high school. That will allow him to see his sons during the day.

“My boys can easily walk down to their dad’s classroom,” he said. “And high school kids and football players can easily drop by and talk football. There’s that opportunity, and that was another selling point.”

He said he also looks forward to doing more hunting and fishing. Both of his boys like to fish and being in the midst of lake country, they will have ample opportunity to spend time together.

Despite the excitement of the change and the opportunity the move to Pequot Lakes represents to Magnuson and his family, the leaving is tinged with sadness at leaving Sauk Rapids.

“I would just like to say thank you to the Sauk Rapids-Rice district. It is an amazing, amazing district. And it’s only growing and getting better,” he said.