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Conversation with Scott: Former WHS standout Adam Hale thriving as a coach in Wisconsin

Adam Hale S
The family of Adam and Amy Hale of Grantsburg, Wis., includes sons Axel, Archer and Abram. (submitted photo)

WORTHINGTON — (Note: Adam Hale was a multi-sport star at Worthington High who went on to play on a Minnesota West (then called Worthington Community College) basketball team that competed at the national tournament. The son of former longtime Trojan football coach Dennis Hale, Adam graduated from Moorhead State and for the last eight years has led a successful prep football team in Grantsburg, Wis. He lives there with his wife, Amy, and sons Axel, Archer and Abram. Adam, 43, who was inducted into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017, is having another fine season in Grantsburg, which is where we caught up with him this week for a Conversation With Scott).

Question: Hello Adam. How are things up in Grantsburg?

Answer: Real good. Thank you.

Q: My buddy Brad Holinka told me your father has been helping you coach the last few years. Is he doing that again this season?

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A: That’s correct.

Q: Fantastic. Congrats to your whole family. You’re doing a great job at Grantsburg (in his eighth season, Adam has compiled a record of 65-22). Bet you’re enjoying this ride as a head football coach.

A: Yes. Thank you, Scott. We’ve been lucky enough to have some really good players and having my dad come up here has been just awesome.

Q: Is your mother (Dee) spending the fall in Grantsburg, also?

A: No. She’s at home in Worthington but she comes up for home games about every two weeks or so. Dad’s here full-time in the fall, living with us.

Q: I notice you’ve got two of your former Grantsburg players, the Chenal brothers, who are playing football for the Wisconsin Badgers. Are they getting much playing time this fall?

A: They are. John, who is a sophomore, started at fullback against Michigan State (on Oct. 12). He’s played in every game and done a really good job. Leo is a true freshman and he’s played in four games but has been out now with a concussion, otherwise he’d have seen action in all six games.

Q: When you were growing up, Adam, I’ll bet you never heard of Grantsburg, Wisconsin.

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A: You got that right.

Q: It’s what, about 1,200 people?

A: Yes.

Q: Describe the little town for me.

A: We’re like an hour and a half north of Minneapolis just across the border. A lot of good fishing and hunting here. It’s a real nice area. When I got here (in 2010 after previously coaching in Rockford, Minn., and Naples, Fla.) I was an assistant for two years and 2012 was my first year as a head coach.

Q: Your dad was such a famous athlete (at Jackson High and the University of Minnesota). When you were growing up, was that difficult to play for him because of who he is and what he’s accomplished?

A: Yes, a little bit. As I got older I realized I wasn’t going to be the player that he was. We weren’t even close to the same kind of athlete. Once I understood that, it was more enjoyable playing for him.

Q: I know you were an excellent quarterback for the Trojans. Did you run the option back in high school?

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A: A little bit, yes.

Q: I also know about your basketball career in both high school and college. But you didn’t play college football?

A: No. I went out for a couple weeks my sophomore year at WCC, but I decided it was going to be a little too much for me and I should stick to basketball.

Q: Those Bluejay teams were exceptional. Has to be some great memories for you.

A: Yes. We had a lot of fun, an awful lot of fun those two years. I really enjoyed playing for Mike Augustine. He was a terrific coach. Some of my best friends to this day were on those teams. We had a blast.

Q: Were a lot of those players from southwest Minnesota?

A: Yes, about everybody. A high school buddy of mine, Casey Werner. Ross Peterson was from Pipestone, Ronnie Gasca was from Jackson. Aric Leenertz from Hills-Beaver Creek, Mike Vangsness from Heron Lake-Okabena/Lakefield and Mike Churchill of Luverne. Nate LeBoutillier was from Storden-Jeffers ... About everybody on the team that year (the Jays went to the national tournament) was a southwest Minnesota product.

Q: I see Nate is an author now. I used to know his father, Steve, back in the day.

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A: Yep. A good guy.

Q: Your Trojan football teams in high school were good, too.

Correct?

A: We were all right. My sophomore year when I didn’t play on the varsity they had a really good team. Undefeated and probably good enough to be a state championship-type team, but they were upset in the second round. My junior and senior years we were .500 clubs.

Q: Was it real difficult to be a head coach’s son when you were a little boy? I’m sure you had to live and die by what happened on Friday nights.

A: Oh yes. When I was a kid doing stats or working as the ball boy I’d be torn up if we lost. I’d take it so hard (laughs). And I’d enjoy the victories just like I was a part of the team.

Q: You have to treasure all the memories and be thankful you’ve been around your dad as much as you have been.

A: I do. That’s what has made this time right now so tremendous, to be able to work with him. The kids here really respect him and it’s just a great help for me to have him coach with us.

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Q: Are you calling the plays? Or your dad?

A: I’m the offensive coordinator. My second year up here our defensive coordinator left town so I called up dad right away and asked what he thought of coming up here.

Q: And your mom was OK with that?

A: Yep. She gave him the green light (laughs).

Q: Do you get home to Worthington very much, Adam?

A: Not very much. A couple times a year. With all our kids’ sports it’s tough. (Their sons are aged 10, 8 and 6).

Q: Did you enjoy growing up in Worthington?

A: Oh yes. I loved it. I have great memories. My best friends to this day are my high school buddies. Still talk to them and still hang out with them. We had a lot of great sports memories. Grantsburg is a small, small town, but I always felt like Worthington was a small town. You could bike everywhere, or go to the elementary school and play tackle football out in the yard. It was a great place to grow up.

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Q: I was wondering about this: With Grantsburg so close to the Cities and yet in Wisconsin, is that place a Viking town or Packer town or Badger town or Gopher town?

A: It is a pretty good split. Probably a little more Packers and Badgers than Vikings and Gophers. But there’s plenty of (Minnesota) fans, too.

Q: How about the head football coach at Grantsburg?

A: (laughs) I never thought I’d say this, but I’m starting to warm up to the Badgers now that I’ve been dealing with their coaching staff and because we’ve got two boys playing there. But I’ll always be a Gopher fan. And I’ll NEVER be a Packer fan. That will never happen (laughs).

Q: Well Adam, I’m sure you’ve heard about your dad’s most memorable sports team. When he played city-league basketball in Worthington with stars like Stanley Haas and Andy Hagemann and Brian Lucker. And a certain bespectacled sportswriter from Slayton from the Globe. Is that right?

A: (Silence)

Q: You mean you haven’t heard of that?

A: (Laughs) Was that in the old YMCA League?

Q: I guess starring for the Gopher football team and meeting Vince Lombardi during a tryout with the Redskins might have been a little more memorable for your dad. But it couldn’t have been by much ...

A: He hasn’t mentioned that basketball team. (Laughs) You know, when I was painting with dad in the summers we wouldn’t eat lunch and we’d come down to the Y and play basketball with some of those same guys.

Q: Adam, your father was always the best ball player on the floor.

A: I believe it. It seems like any sport he’s done, he does it well. He plays pickleball now and is probably better than me at that now. And he’s 72 years old.

Q: Anything you’d like to say to the folks back home in Worthington?

A: Just that I’ll always be a Trojan. I have so many great memories from that school and that community. I was blessed to grow up there.

Q: Thanks Adam. It’s a pleasure. Best of luck to your football team and your family.

A: Thanks very much, Scott.

(Conversations with Scott, produced by Scott Mansch, appears periodically in online editions of the Globe. Mansch can be reached at smansch5rockets@gmail.com. He is on Twitter @ScottMansch)

Scott Mansch

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