Q&A: Brainerd football coach Ron Stolski

After 53 years as a head football coach and a state-record 354 victories, Brainerd's Ron Stolski is set to cross another milestone Saturday. ¶ When the Warriors play Owatonna for the Class 5A championship, it will be Stolski's first appearance in a title game. Brainerd qualified for the state tournament on eight previous occasions but never got past the semifinals. ¶ Stolski, who also is executive director for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association, talked with staff writer Jim Paulsen about his role in creating the Prep Bowl, finally getting the chance to coach in it, and other thoughts on a life devoted to football.

Q: Is it fulfilling to finally coach in the Prep Bowl?

A: I'm very happy for our football team, but winning a championship has never been my dream. The dream I've had is that the kids are well-coached, well-prepared and take life lessons from football. It's a bigger thing for our team and our community.

Q: What's the key to the success this year?

A: We're not overly big, but we move pretty well and we're tenacious in our will. And we don't turn the ball over.

Q: Brainerd moved down from Class 6A to Class 5A this year. Seems like a better fit.

A: We have very large number of students on free and reduced lunch. Crow Wing County has [one of] the highest unemployment rates in the state. We have a lot of kids who go off to do other things after school. In the past, we could play one good game against the big schools and maybe win, which we've been very fortunate to do. But it was winning the next game, against a team that is as good or better than the one we just beat, that was taxing.

A: You have families that grew up here that continue to live here and many that come back to live here. They have a greater sense of where their boundaries are. It's simpler to engage the community in an exciting time. Our slogan this year is "Our town, our team, our time." Now you see people, especially old-timers who haven't gone to a game in years, that come up and want to talk football.

Q: What was your role in creating the Prep Bowl?

Q: In the late 1970s, the old format of using conferences to determine a playoff just wasn't working. I was the [athletic director] at Brainerd at the time. There was a coach, Mike Belseth in Breckenridge, who had a plan in which everybody made the playoffs but had to drop their last game of the season. Coaches didn't want to do that. So we started working off the Belseth plan and thought we might have something here. I called Marv Helling at the MSHSL and told him. He drove up the next day, took a look and said he thought there was something. And with the Dome itself, we finally had a one-spot venue for a tournament format.

Q: How important has the Metrodome been?

A: You didn't have a state tournament unless it was in the city. The Metrodome has been very important as a place where communities could collectively meet in one place, like Williams Arena.

A: One is better equipment. Two, the advent of core strength programs. Three is technology. Way back then, you filmed games on 16mm film and sent it by bus overnight to be developed in Minneapolis. I can remember coach after coach sitting at the Market Bar-B-Que at 2 o'clock on Saturday, waiting for their film to be done. Now, with the technology available, coaching and preparation is much better.

Q: Have the kids changed?

A: I think kids today have more issues to work through and come with more baggage, but they are still marvelous kids. They come to you with their hearts in their hands.

Q: Do you plan on sticking around for a while?

A: No plans to retire. The passion still flames inside.