Post by 50yardfan on Aug 5, 2011 13:59:38 GMT -5
www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2011/08/05/sports/local_sports/50003996.txt
The North Platte Telegraph
Whether he admits it or not, Butch Faulkenberry has a Midas touch.
The fable of King Midas suggested that everything he touched turned to gold. In the case of Faulkenberry, every team he is head coach of wins gold - a championship.
After a title in two years with the Iowa Sharks, a semipro football team, Faulkenberry was offered the head coaching position with the Sioux City Bandits, an indoor football team.
The Bandits responded to their new coach and their new league, but finishing undefeated at 14-0 and winning the American Professional Football League's championship.
The Bandits play in the five-team APFL with the Iowa Blawkhawks, Kansas Koyotes, Mid-Missouri Outlaws and Springfield Wolf Pack. They also defeated the Stockton Wolves, an unaffiliated indoor football team.
"I guess it was my work with the Iowa Sharks that got me the job," Faulkenberry said in a telephone interview with The North Platte Telegraph on Thursday. "The Sharks were a .500 team before I took over and that first year we went undefeated and won the Central States Football League title.
"The next year we were in the World Football League, a much bigger league, and we went 11-1, won the Heartland Division and lost in the semifinals to a team out of Dallas, Texas."
Faulkenberry is a 1991 graduate of North Platte High School and attended Chadron State University on a football scholarship.
"I didn't play all four years," the coach said. "I injured my back, but went straight into coaching."
Faulkenberry bounced around the Midwest, coaching in such places as Huron, S.D., and Grand Forks, N.D., before moving to Iowa.
"I was excited about taking over for the Bandits," Faulkenberry said. "I watched a lot of tape on the team and began drawing up plays to use on the shorter field.
"About 30 minutes into my first practice I just threw all the new plays away. The field is just so narrow and it's amazing how quick a receiver can get down the field. The game is played just so fast, that I didn't know what I was doing."
Faulkenberry figured it out, however. The Bandits became the main attraction last summer in Sioux City and Faulkenberry earned his second championship in three years of coaching summer football.
"The talent level is so high and the game is played so fast, it's incredible," Faulkenberry said. "I was thrilled we were able to find this kind of talent in and around Sioux City. It was great for the community, the fans and the players."
There's another side to Faulkenberry. The family man who enjoys his acreage outside Battle Creek, Iowa.
"I'm a physical education major so I'm teaching at Sioux City North High School," Faulkenberry said. "I'm running the defense for the football team and during the rest of the school year I'll be running the weight training as the strength and conditioning coach."
While not coaching football in the winter months, Faulkenberry is being a fan of his four children, who are all wrestlers.
"My 16-year-old son is more of a cross country runner, and he's good at it," Faulkenberry said. "My 12-year-old daughter and my younger boys, ages 9 and 6, are all avid wrestlers and we've gone to some national tournaments."
His free time is also spent getting his ranch up and going.
"We've got a little egg business going," he said. "The children are learning responsibility and doing chores.
"We butcher our own meat and raise and sell cattle. I stay pretty busy between coaching and running the ranch."
As for future coaching plans, Faulkenberry would love to coach college football one day.
"I'm not looking for anything right now," he said. "If an offer were to come up, I'd be flattered. But right now, my family is happy. I've got a good job at the high school and a good job with the Bandits and I'm satisfied."
Faulkenberry missed his 20th high school reunion recently.
"I was a little busy," he laughed, remembering he was winning a championship. "I haven't been back to North Platte in years.
"I have a lot of good memories of North Platte. I'd like to return some day."
The North Platte Telegraph
Whether he admits it or not, Butch Faulkenberry has a Midas touch.
The fable of King Midas suggested that everything he touched turned to gold. In the case of Faulkenberry, every team he is head coach of wins gold - a championship.
After a title in two years with the Iowa Sharks, a semipro football team, Faulkenberry was offered the head coaching position with the Sioux City Bandits, an indoor football team.
The Bandits responded to their new coach and their new league, but finishing undefeated at 14-0 and winning the American Professional Football League's championship.
The Bandits play in the five-team APFL with the Iowa Blawkhawks, Kansas Koyotes, Mid-Missouri Outlaws and Springfield Wolf Pack. They also defeated the Stockton Wolves, an unaffiliated indoor football team.
"I guess it was my work with the Iowa Sharks that got me the job," Faulkenberry said in a telephone interview with The North Platte Telegraph on Thursday. "The Sharks were a .500 team before I took over and that first year we went undefeated and won the Central States Football League title.
"The next year we were in the World Football League, a much bigger league, and we went 11-1, won the Heartland Division and lost in the semifinals to a team out of Dallas, Texas."
Faulkenberry is a 1991 graduate of North Platte High School and attended Chadron State University on a football scholarship.
"I didn't play all four years," the coach said. "I injured my back, but went straight into coaching."
Faulkenberry bounced around the Midwest, coaching in such places as Huron, S.D., and Grand Forks, N.D., before moving to Iowa.
"I was excited about taking over for the Bandits," Faulkenberry said. "I watched a lot of tape on the team and began drawing up plays to use on the shorter field.
"About 30 minutes into my first practice I just threw all the new plays away. The field is just so narrow and it's amazing how quick a receiver can get down the field. The game is played just so fast, that I didn't know what I was doing."
Faulkenberry figured it out, however. The Bandits became the main attraction last summer in Sioux City and Faulkenberry earned his second championship in three years of coaching summer football.
"The talent level is so high and the game is played so fast, it's incredible," Faulkenberry said. "I was thrilled we were able to find this kind of talent in and around Sioux City. It was great for the community, the fans and the players."
There's another side to Faulkenberry. The family man who enjoys his acreage outside Battle Creek, Iowa.
"I'm a physical education major so I'm teaching at Sioux City North High School," Faulkenberry said. "I'm running the defense for the football team and during the rest of the school year I'll be running the weight training as the strength and conditioning coach."
While not coaching football in the winter months, Faulkenberry is being a fan of his four children, who are all wrestlers.
"My 16-year-old son is more of a cross country runner, and he's good at it," Faulkenberry said. "My 12-year-old daughter and my younger boys, ages 9 and 6, are all avid wrestlers and we've gone to some national tournaments."
His free time is also spent getting his ranch up and going.
"We've got a little egg business going," he said. "The children are learning responsibility and doing chores.
"We butcher our own meat and raise and sell cattle. I stay pretty busy between coaching and running the ranch."
As for future coaching plans, Faulkenberry would love to coach college football one day.
"I'm not looking for anything right now," he said. "If an offer were to come up, I'd be flattered. But right now, my family is happy. I've got a good job at the high school and a good job with the Bandits and I'm satisfied."
Faulkenberry missed his 20th high school reunion recently.
"I was a little busy," he laughed, remembering he was winning a championship. "I haven't been back to North Platte in years.
"I have a lot of good memories of North Platte. I'd like to return some day."