Coaching icons are deserving of special tribute in Prep Bowl

Wes Fesler replaced Bernie Bierman as the Gophers football coach for the 1951 season. Most of the players came from the home state, and Fesler and athletic director Ike Armstrong decided there was a way to enliven Minnesota high school football.

They presented a plan to the State High School League's board of directors that called for a four-team championship playoff. The state league was a conservative group and the proposal was dismissed out of hand.

It would be another two decades before Minnesota would have a playoff for deciding state champions.

Originally, in 1972, there were five classes and the field was limited to conference winners. The playoff fields continued to expand through the years, until virtually every team in the state receives a chance in the postseason.

The Prep Bowl started with the opening of the Metrodome in 1982. It's now a six-class, two-day event.

Clearly, high school football has changed dramatically since a playoff was considered verboten. Yet, the largest games consumed the participants as thoroughly as are the half-dozen title games being played on this long holiday weekend.

"We were going to Robbinsdale in '65, and the traffic was so backed up on Hwy. 100 we almost missed the kickoff," John Dovolis said.

Stav Canakes was the coach for Dovolis and the Edina Hornets. Irv Nerdahl was the coach of the Robbinsdale Robins.

"Those guys were legends, and so was Bob Collison at Richfield," Dovolis said. "Bloomington and St. Louis Park had great athletes. That's what makes Stav's record so phenomenal -- the competition he was facing."

The Edina Hornets of the '60s and beyond have been sharing stories about Stav Canakes since the coach, 78, died in late October. They were surprised that the death of Canakes, perhaps the most famous high school football coach in Minnesota history, did not receive more media attention.

Canakes was the coach at Edina (and Edina West) from 1961 through 1989. From 1947 through 1971, the Minneapolis Tribune's Ted Peterson declared what he called the state "mythical champion." He named Edina in 1957, and then in 1965, 1966 and 1969 with Canakes as the coach.

All the athletic success led Edina to be called the "Cake Eaters" by opponents. This was a play on the affluence of the suburb, plus the fact Edina's uniforms always looked newer and the cheerleaders always looked ... perkier.

"He got us all fired up before a game with Park -- Bob Stein and those guys -- in '65, and guess what? Another locked door. We were piled up at the door, and no one could find a key."

Dovolis was asked if he was the lone Greek to play for a fiery Greek coach.

"I know I was the first, because I got the nickname the 'Original Greek Jelly Doughnut,'" Dovolis said.

Steve Canakes played for his father in 1972 and 1973, after Edina split into two high schools.

"Dad always kidded me that he lost nine games in 11 years, and then he got me and lost nine in two years," Steve said. "But he got the job done at West, too ... won the state championship in 1978 before Edina went back to one school."

If NFL teams can play for the Lombardi Trophy, why doesn't Minnesota have its Prep Bowl teams play for trophies named in honor of the people who are the backbone of this game ... in honor of legendary high school coaches?

We have the aforementioned two taken care of already: the Canakes Trophy for Class 5A and the Mahoney Trophy for 3A.

"I think trophies named after coaches like that would be an excellent idea," said Minnetonka's Dave Nelson, the son of a legendary high school coach himself in Anoka's Stan Nelson.