July 16, 2008

The National High School Athletic Coaches Association held its 43rd Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 23-25. The meeting culminates with its Annual Awards Banquet that includes the awarding of the NHSACA Coach of the Year Awards. Eight Finalists from 18 sports and athletic director are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments and service. The final award of the evening is the naming of the National Coach of the Year recipient in each of the sports and an athletic director.

The award recipients are evaluated on longevity, professional service, win-loss percentage, championship years, and professional awards. Every state in the nation is provided opportunity to nominate candidates for evaluation for the award. The evaluation process is a two-tiered process; first the finalists are determined and the second evaluation is to determine the National Coach of the Year recipient.

2008 NHSACA Football Coach of the Year

Gary Korhonen, Richards High School; Oak Lawn, Illinois

Gary has been the head coach for 36 of his 42 years of coaching at Richards High School. He started coaching in Elkader, Iowa where he spent 2 years at Central Community High School before moving to Oak Lawn. His teams have won 315 games while losing only 98 for a staggering 76% winning percentage. He is currently the winningest coach in Illinois and has the most career wins in Illinois as well.

His teams won 2 state titles and were runner-up four times, while competing in the state tournament 26 times. He has received far too many "Coach of the Year" honors to mention; recently he was also named Coach of the Year by the National Football Hall of Fame.

The stadium at Richards High School was renamed Korhonen Field in 2005. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of Richards High School (2006), Upper Iowa University (1991), Chicago Land Sports (2007), and the Illinois Football Coaches Association (1993). Gary has served on the boards for the All-Area Selection with the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times and as representative to the Rules Committee for the South Interscholastic Conference for over 25 years.

Korhonen has produced 285 college football players in the last 36 years including 86 at the Division I level, 60 at the Division II level, 86 at the Division III level, and 53 to Junior Colleges. Five of these young men played in the NFL.

Korhonen was a part of this past year's Upper Iowa Football Coaches Clinic held on campus in Fayette, Iowa.