Puetz coached with passion, humor

COLUMBUS - In order to fully understand Jim Puetz as a coach, you need to meet Rudy Kolache.

Rudy was an exceptional pole vaulter, in fact, rumor has it he cleared 14 feet, 2 inches once. However, it seemed he always came down with the flu or cramps before the competition.

Yet nearly every meet the announcer would send out the warning, “Rudy Kolache of Columbus Scotus, report or be scratched.”

After the announcement, Puetz would stand on the infield and share a laugh with the other Scotus coaches.

After all, Rudy Kolache didn't exist.

“Rudy is a name that comes from David City. Every Bohemian is named Rudy and they all eat kolaches,” Puetz said. “Most years we didn't have pole vaulters. So we would enter a fictitious name. It was just a joke. In fact, the other day I was looking at a signed football and Rudy Kolache's name was one of them.”

Rudy Kolache provides just a glimpse into the humor and story-telling Puetz intertwined into his 37-year coaching career for the Shamrocks. Last week, Puetz added another honor to his illustrious coaching career as he was elected into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame.

The hall of fame induction stretches five decades and includes four state championships, two in track and field and football. In football, Puetz compiled a record of 232-96-6 in football, including 223 wins at Scotus.

The numbers and records only tell part of Puetz's impact at Scotus and coaching at a state level. Puetz found a balance between being a coach's coach and a player's coach.

“Any coach can know the X's and O's, but the great ones motivate you,” said Pat Engelbert, who graduated in 1987. “From seventh grade on I remember wanting to play for Jim. You didn't want to disappoint him. He had the ability to get guys to walk across hot coals.

Puetz started the Shamrocks' weight program and developed other important concepts such as minimum maintenance practices, the Puetz Rule and the Good Friday relays. Yet, Puetz mixed the intense, efficient practices with practical jokes, impersonations and sidesplitting stories.

“I could see he was a passionate coach from the get go. He had a knack for motivating,” said Vern Younger, who arrived at Scotus with Puetz in 1968. “He's just fun to be around. You are guaranteed a good time with Jim around.”

Puetz started his athletic career at David City St. Mary's and won a football state championship under Gene Pillen, who Puetz called his biggest coaching influence. Puetz continued his athletic career, playing football at Wayne State College and graduated in 1962.

After stops at Keya Paha County, Central City and Nebraska City Lourdes, Puetz landed at Scotus. As is the case with many of the Shamrocks' coaches, Puetz's plans of staying a few years and then moving on to a bigger school went out the window shortly after arriving at Scotus.

After starting as the head boys track and field coach, Puetz added the head football duties four years into his tenure at Scotus. He remained in those positions until he resigned as track coach in 1993 and football in 2001 after 31 years. Puetz also served as boys golf coach from 1996-2005, when he retired from teaching.

Along the way Puetz impacted hundred of students and mentored dozens of future coaches.

“He had a great influence on me,” said Columbus High track coach Dan Steiner, who graduated from Scotus in 1975. “He was a rah-rah guy, and I'm loud at a track meets and try to get the throwers going.”

Said Younger: “I couldn't have picked a better guy or mentor to get into coaching and teaching with. He helped me out. I owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Puetz said he owed his election into the hall of fame to the stability of the assistant coaches, such as Younger, his brother, Gary Puetz, Randy Berlin and Rick Grubaugh. Instead of micromanaging every aspect of the team, Puetz let his assistant coaches run their positions and events as they thought best.

“He had coaches that stayed with him for a long time because he let his coaches coach,” said Gary Puetz, an assistant in football and track and the current athletic director. “During practice, he expected you to coach and take some responsibility. He didn't claim to know everything in the world. If you were a position or event coach, you were supposed to run the show. Jim delegated very easily.”

One of the tenants of Puetz's football program was the short, highly organized practices. The Shamrocks' practiced for less than an hour Monday of a game-week and then rarely went longer than an hour and a half Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, Thursday's walk through typically lasted no longer than half an hour.

The short practices attract a large number of players, which peaked at 72 in 2000, and gave the Shamrocks a chance to develop talent and reload each year even when graduating almost all of their seniors. The key to the minimum maintenance practices was organization. Each player was assigned to go to a certain station and participate in specific drills.

“We had a philosophy that we didn't over practice,” Puetz said. “We tried to make the game fun for the kids.”

Another coaching revelation occurred during the early 1980s, at a coach's meeting. One of the Scotus coaches asked what would happen if they coached football more like they coached track, where they had won state championships in 1978 and 1979.

So Puetz and his assistant made the effort to talk to the players on a one-on-one basis more, not live and die with each play and do a little more individual coaching.

“In football if you didn't get first down on the first series you're all ticked off,” said Gary Puetz. “Whereas in track, if you don't have a good first jump, instead of yelling at the guy you put your arm around them and say ‘You got to do this,' and you coach them a little more. Maybe a little bit more coaching and not being quite as intense as football.”

The first breakthrough in football came in 1984, the year the playoffs expanded to 16 teams. Scotus qualified for the playoffs with an undefeated record and eventually won the Class B state championship with a 10-6 win against Gothenburg.

Another key to the Shamrocks' success was the unofficial official Puetz Rule - which required athletes who wanted to play football to go out for track. The rule boosted numbers in track, but also helped Scotus' football team.

“The two worked together,” Puetz said. “Whether you were any good or not, track was going to make you a better athlete because you were competing, and maybe it was just against yourself to run a better time or throw better.”

Engelbert, who was a state runner-up in shot put, said Puetz made track into a team sport with competitions amount the different groups and fitting individual expectations into the team race. Before each meet, Puetz came up with dream performances designed to push the athletes and strive to do better.

The team approach helped the Shamrocks win 22 straight Centennial Conference championships and 12 consecutive district titles.

“Jim coached with passion and that carried over to the kids and coaching staff,” Younger said. “Some of my greatest memories are the stories he comes up with and especially in track.”

Puetz will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame Sept. 23 in a ceremony at the Lied Center. He will become the third member from Columbus in the Hall, joining Charles Brock (2002) and Mike Cielocha (2005).

“I believe if Jim Puetz can't be in the High School Hall of Fame then it's not a hall of fame,” Gary Puetz said. “He won a lot of football games, he won a lot of track meets, and he had a positive influence on a lot of people.”