Ron Grovesteen, head coach of the Evansville Blue Devils, has been selected as the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week for the week ending Nov. 5th, the Packers announced Friday.
The Blue Devils beat Prairie du Chien, 25-8, in the second round of the WIAA Division 4 playoffs. Evansville finished the regular season as the Rock Valley Conference champions with an 8-1 record (7-0 conference). On Saturday, they play at Broadhead/Juda.
"This is a great honor for our community, school, football team and my family," said Grovesteen. "I'm very proud to receive this award on behalf of our team. It's a great tribute to our efforts this year as a football team."
Grovesteen has six assistant coaches, Randy Keister, Gary Feldt, Andy Lehman, Jeff Deininger, Jeff Updike and Dale Schultz, on staff for his program of 80 players, 36 of them on the varsity team. Evansville High School has an enrollment of 499 students. Under his guidance, the Blue Devils have captured six conference titles.
Grovesteen has been the head coach for Evansville since 1981. Prior to serving as head coach, he was the Blue Devils defensive coordinator from 1974-1981. He served as an assistant at Beloit Memorial from 1970-1973. He has compiled a record of 181-68-0 over his 25 year coaching career and is a member of the WFCA Hall of Fame. Grovesteen taught for 34 years.
A 1965 graduate of Tomah High School, Grovesteen played football, basketball and baseball as a prep.
He went to Milton College, graduating in 1970 playing football for head coach Ted Scalissi. Grovesteen also played basketball and baseball in college.
He and his wife, JoAnn, have a son Tyler, and a daughter, Jennifer.
The Packers will recognize one outstanding high school coach as their 'Coach of the Week' during the 2004 high school football season. As a Coach of the Week winner, Diny and future recipients will be awarded several items and privileges, including a $1,000 donation to the school's football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL, as well as recognition of the award on www.NFLHS.com, the NFL's high school football Web site.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 9 a.m. every Monday to Cathy A. Dworak, manager of community relations, at coachoftheweek@packers.com (e-mail) or by fax at (920) 569-7302. Please include the nominee's name, address, school, phone number, and reason the coach is deserving of the award.
