Jim Norris of Grafton High School in Grafton, Wis., has been named the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA)/Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Year.
In his eighth season as head coach of the Black Hawks, Norris led his program to a perfect 14-0 record that culminated in a victory in the WIAA Division 3 State Championship Game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Locked in a battle all game long, Grafton would go on to win 17-15 after putting together a crucial drive that ended in a game-winning field goal. Since day one, Norris has built his program's culture on relentless hard work.
"When I got here, we embedded the 'pound the rock' mentality…It's the mantra of control what you can control – and that's your attitude and your effort," said Norris. "It's the proverbial 'grab the hammer, grab the lunch pail and your hard hat and swing every day as hard as you can.' That's really what we built this thing on is that work ethic and workman-like mentality. We put kids in a position to succeed, but ultimately, it's up to them where they want to take things. They've responded well, and they work their butts off. It showed in the state championship game, being down with 1:30 to play. Guys didn't settle or hang their heads; they continued to swing the hammer."
Grafton's state championship run was a culmination of months of hard work and determination.
"We started this process in June, and we were on a mission," said Norris. "Our guys said they wanted to be the best and be state champions. As a program, we ask a lot of our kids; we have certain standards in which we do things and hold our kids to high academic standards and high performance on the football field. Our kids responded well and did everything we asked, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
Norris grew up in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and played offensive line at Fremd High School. He went on to attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, playing offensive line for the Warhawks under Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer Lance Leipold. Norris was a three-time national champion and an All-Region lineman for the Warhawks. Upon graduating in 2013, Norris began his career on the sidelines as a student assistant at UW-Whitewater. He served in assistant coach roles at both Sun Prairie High School and Grafton before accepting the head coaching position at Grafton in 2018.
Norris is honored to be named the Coach of the Year by the WFCA and the Packers but views the award as a team accomplishment.
"This is a reflection of our coaching staff and the hard work that each and every one of them puts in," he said. "The sacrifice of being away from our families, the long hours and the relentless pursuit of perfection takes everyone. I'm just so thankful for my guys and my coaching staff."
Norris and his staff oversee a program of 94 players with 65 of them suiting up for varsity games. His assistant coaching staff includes Eric Graf, Noah Cook, Josh Mack, Eric Pfleger, Luke Menzel, Zach Stelter, Carter Grant, Russell Cross, Jace Gwynn, Mike Seefeld and DJ Hilgart. In addition to coaching football, Norris is a physical education teacher at Grafton High School. Norris and his wife, Abbey, have two sons, Duke and Decker.
About the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Year/Week Program:
In recognition of the honor, the Packers will award a $2,000 donation to the Grafton football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL Foundation. Norris will be honored at the WFCA All-State Banquet in the Lambeau Field Atrium. This marks the 28th year both the Green Bay Packers and WFCA have awarded the honor together. The WFCA has awarded a Coach of the Year since 1976, while the Packers have presented the same award since 1998, in addition to the Coach of the Week program. More information regarding this award, the All-State team and the WFCA is available at www.wifca.org.
