In
2009, I wrote a profile of Becker football coach Dwight Lundeen. The main
headline read: “Power of positive coaching.” All these years later, Lundeen has
received a major national honor carrying similar phrasing.
Dwight
Lundeen felt humbled upon learning in early December that he had been named the
Power of Influence Award winner for the Midwest region of the nation by the
American Football Coaches Association. He was among five high school football
coaches to receive regional honors.
On
Sunday, at the AFCA convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lundeen received the
highest honor the group confers when he was named the national winner of the
Power of Influence Award.
He
is the third Minnesota high school coach to receive this honor. Ron Stolski of Brainerd was the
recipient in 2005 and Dave Nelson of Minnetonka was the winner in 2019. Stolski
and Nelson are retired from coaching, while Lundeen has expressed no
intentions of leaving coaching.
The Power of Influence Award was created
as a way for the AFCA and to honor deserving high school football coaches. Coaches who receive this award are recognized for their
impact on their team, as well as the legacy they leave with the school and
surrounding community. The award
is not based on wins and losses; however, it should be noted that coaches of
powerful influence have longevity and success.
Lundeen certainly fits that mold of longevity
and success. Hired as the first head coach of the new Becker football program
in 1970, Lundeen has had a remarkably strong impact on countless numbers of
people as an educator, administrator and coach.
“My story is that for 53 years, I have chosen
to do something I truly love, coach football,” Lundeen said. “As a coach, I
strive to make a difference by guiding young men to be better students and role
models as well as better husbands, fathers, and community members once they
leave our program.”
In his 53 years as head coach, Lundeen has an overall record of
390-166-3 with three state championships, 19 section titles and 24 conference
championships. He has served as president and on the executive committee of the
Minnesota Football Coaches Association, the Minnesota Interscholastic
Activities Administrators Association, and the Minnesota State High School League.
Lundeen has been inducted into the National Coaches Association Hall of Fame
(2019), Minnesota Activities Directors Hall of Fame (2014), Minnesota High
School League Hall of Fame (2014) and the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of
Fame (2009). He is a four-time Minnesota Football Coach of the Year and was
named Minnesota Football Coaches Association Man of the Year in 2015.
Lundeen ranks second on the all-time win list of Minnesota high
school football coaches. At the top is Verndale’s Mike Mahlen with 426 wins,
followed by Lundeen at 390, Stolski at 389 and Eden Prairie’s Mike Grant at
377.
In that 2009 story, Dwight had coached in
Becker for 40 years. Thirteen more seasons have passed since then. Here is that
story from October 2009…
Power of positive
coaching: Dwight Lundeen saw the world as a kid, then settled down as the only
head football coach Becker's ever known
Dwight Lundeen doesn't travel like he once did, but that's not surprising considering he has been the football coach at Becker High School for 40 years.
He rides the bus to
road games, and on Saturdays, Lundeen and his wife, Pam, usually get in the car
to watch Becker graduates play for colleges in Minnesota and surrounding
states. The Lundeens raised their three kids in Becker -- their two sons are
football coaches -- and they couldn't have asked for a better place to be.
After graduating from
St. Cloud State, Lundeen interviewed for a teaching job in Becker. He began
working there in 1969, and the school started a football team in 1970. He is
the only coach the Bulldogs have ever had.
"I kind of always
felt I wanted to be in coaching, but I never imagined being in the same place
for 40 years," said Lundeen, 62. "What's best for your family
sometimes is to stay put."
Staying put was not
part of the plan when Lundeen was a child. His parents were missionaries, and
the family lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called the
Belgian Congo and later Zaire), France, Quebec and Vermont when Lundeen was a
youth. He was fluent in three languages: English, French and Lingala, which was
the largest tribal language in the Belgian Congo.
"Not many people
know this," he said. "I can speak Lingala pretty fluently, because
that was what I learned as a 3-4-5-year-old."
Lundeen attended five
different high schools from seventh to 12th grade. For his junior and senior
years of high school, he lived in Cokato, which was the family's true home.
He stayed in Becker
partially because his yearn to see the world had been satisfied.
"I think that was
part of it," he said. "It was kind of, 'Been there, done that.'"
He has built one of
Minnesota's football dynasties. Since 1985 the Bulldogs have made 12
appearances in the state playoffs, advancing to five championship games and
winning one title (in 2005). Originally a Nine-Man football team, Becker has
risen through the ranks as the community and school enrollment have grown. The
Bulldogs are now in Class 4A, the second-largest division.
Since its first
winning season in 1977, Becker has finished below .500 only four times.
The Bulldogs will take
a 2-3 record into a Mississippi 8 Conference game at Cambridge-Isanti (4-1) on
Friday night. The winner of that annual game takes home the Legends Cup, a
traveling trophy that honors Lundeen and retired Cambridge-Isanti coach George
Larson. Larson is third on the state's career victories list, and Lundeen is
No. 6. Lundeen needs three wins to tie retired Stillwater coach George Thole at
No. 5.
Lundeen is known for
his friendly personality and calm demeanor. At halftime of a 49-14 loss at
Totino-Grace two weeks ago -- the score at intermission was 35-0 -- Lundeen
never raised his voice while talking to his players. The closest thing to
emotion was when he characterized the first half by saying, "My
word."
Cambridge-Isanti coach
Todd Larkin remembers a game several years ago in which Becker defeated the
Bluejackets handily.
"After the game I
must have been pretty bewildered, because Dwight called me on Sunday to ask how
I was doing," Larkin said. "He told me, 'Stay positive with your kids
and remember why you got into coaching.' He's a kind, gentle man."
Lundeen, who worked as
a teacher and athletic director, has retired from those positions. He said he
takes coaching one year at a time but has no plans to retire as long as he
feels he is having a positive impact on his players.
"If I ever sense
that I've lost that, I'm out the next day," he said.
One of the candidates
to replace him might be his son, Mike, a 1992 Becker grad and former head coach
at Milaca who has been a Becker assistant for eight years. The Lundeens' other
son, Matt, is the head coach at Redwood Valley. Their daughter, Kristin,
teaches in Edina.
"He's the way
he's always been," Mike said. "The most emotional I've ever seen him
was when we won the state title and he cried a little. He's the same every day
whether we win or lose, it's not anything different." .
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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