Menominee's Man Among Maroons
June 28, 2012
Ken Hofer walked high school football sidelines as a head coach for nearly a half-century. That, in itself, is an incredible accomplishment.
But Menominee's recently-retired and legendary coach packed plenty of success into his 48 seasons, a tenure that began in his hometown of Stephenson.
- Hofer is retiring with a record of 342-136-3 and after three straight nine-win seasons.
- His teams have made the MHSAA playoffs at the ends of the last 16.
- The Maroons won 29 straight games from 2006-2008, with back-to-back 14-0 finishes in 2006 and 2007.
- His teams won three MHSAA championships, in those two perfect seasons and in 1998.
- In three of the last six seasons, his offense scored more than 500 points.
"His impact has been felt for generations, and his legacy will continue to inspire students into the future," Menominee superintendent Erik Bergh wrote when Hofer made his announcement.
Click to read our Q&A with the longtime Maroons coach, who stepped down earlier this month.
PHOTO: Ken Hofer, center in gray sweatshirt, coached Menominee to a 41-6 win over Madison Heights Madison in the 2006 Division 5 Final at Ford Field.
Bowl Games Are Bad
October 6, 2014
The idea to conduct one or more high school football bowl games in Florida in late December is a bad idea on every possible level of consideration. The idea will triumph only if greed trumps good sense.
A misguided marketing firm is trying again, this time attempting to bribe schools and state high school associations to bend or break their rules. A national media chain is trumpeting the plan to give some legs to its foolish national rankings. So there is some buzz about the plan, but no brains.
At a time when concerns rage for excessive head contact and concussions in football, no responsible party would for a single second think seriously about adding more football practices or games for school-age players.
Well before late December, high school football has ended, and winter sports are well underway with practices and competition that are far more important than several more weeks of practice and another game of football.
How could we ever allow one team to have an extra month more of football practice than all others? How is that fair to all the other football teams?
The answer is that it’s not fair to the football programs of other schools; it’s not fair to the other sports at the school involved; and it’s not healthy for the football players involved.
A misguided marketing firm is trying again, this time attempting to bribe schools and state high school associations to bend or break their rules. A national media chain is trumpeting the plan to give some legs to its foolish national rankings. So there is some buzz about the plan, but no brains.
At a time when concerns rage for excessive head contact and concussions in football, no responsible party would for a single second think seriously about adding more football practices or games for school-age players.
Well before late December, high school football has ended, and winter sports are well underway with practices and competition that are far more important than several more weeks of practice and another game of football.
How could we ever allow one team to have an extra month more of football practice than all others? How is that fair to all the other football teams?
The answer is that it’s not fair to the football programs of other schools; it’s not fair to the other sports at the school involved; and it’s not healthy for the football players involved.