The Packers have announced that Mark Madigan of Laconia High School in Rosendale, Wis., has been named the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week.
Madigan, in his seventh year as the varsity head coach of Laconia, led the Spartans to a 26-14 upset victory over the Southern Door High School Eagles, in the first round of the WIAA Division-5 Football Tournament on Oct. 20. The Spartans entered the tournament as a 7 seed, while the Eagles were a 2 seed. The Spartans look to continue their playoff run against the 6-seed Valders High School Vikings on Friday, Oct. 27.
"We played very good defense," Madigan said. "We gave up one explosive play on a pass play, but against the run we kept them down to three yards per carry. Even though they had a lot more snaps in the game, we were able to hold our ground and make them earn everything. It's definitely one of the biggest victories we've had. We've won in the playoffs six of the last seven years, we've won the first round four of those six times we've been there, but this is a very special one. This was against a very strong team that Southern Door has. [They're] a conference champion, a 2 seed, and it was a big victory of our program."
Born in Rosendale, Wis., Madigan graduated from Laconia High School in 1992. While at Laconia, he was a three sport athlete playing football, baseball and basketball. He played wide receiver and linebacker for Coach Joe Schleis. Madigan would go on to play linebacker for UW-River Falls under Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, Coach John O'Grady. Madigan graduated from UW-River Falls in 1997.
Madigan began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Laconia in 2002 under his former coach, Joe Schleis. He took over the head coaching position for the Spartans in 2002.
Madigan gives the credit to his coaching staff and team for the Coach of the Week Award.
"It's an absolute honor. No doubt about it," Madigan said. "I know they said it's Coach of the Week, but it's really our coaching staff [and] everybody in the program has a big part in helping earn this award. Whether you talk about my coaching staff, or whether you talk about the players, or the families that are involved. So it is a true team effort, especially when you talk about small town football. Really in our community, this is a special award."
Madigan and his staff oversee a program of 46 players that all suit up for varsity games. His assistant staff includes Justin Stigler, Jamison Davies, Marty Hoffman and Anthony Zar.
In addition to coaching football, Madigan is also a science teacher at Rosendale Intermediate School.
Madigan and his wife, Christy, have four children. Their oldest son, Cormac, is the quarterback for the Laconia Spartans. They also have two daughters, Cyna and Tierney, and their youngest is their son, Tillman.
About the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week Program:
The Packers will recognize one outstanding high school coach as their 'Coach of the Week' winner during the 2017 high school football season. Winners are awarded several items and privileges, including a $1,000 donation to the school's football program from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL Foundation, as well as recognition of the award on Packers.com, Wissports.net and Wifca.org.
Nominations for Coach of the Week should be submitted by 10 a.m. every Monday to Ryan Fencl, Youth Football Coordinator, at **coachoftheweek@packers.com**. Please include the nominee's name, address, school, phone number and reason he/she is deserving of the award.
