Slow Motion Replay: Dale Mueller from Highlands engineered his way to a spectacular record and 11-titles @KyHighFootball, @NKyTribune, @bigassfans, @minguabeefjerky, @khsaafootball

Enigmatic former head coach won 250-games and 11-titles in 20-years at Highlands

🎶Bluebirds singin’ a song/
Nothin’ but blue skies from now on…🎶 Willie Nelson, 1978

You may have noticed our use of the word, “enigmatic.” Enigmatic means “difficult to interpret or understand, mysterious.” You may wonder what that has to do with the former head man at Fort Thomas Highlands, Dale Mueller. The difficult to understand part is an ivy-league, former varsity baseball player who graduated from Cornell with a degree in mechanical engineering becoming a teacher and high school football coach. The mysterious part is how in the world any coach wins 11-titles in only 20-seasons.

HB Lyon, Director of Scouting, “KPGFootball”

Fort Thomas, KY: We’ve never met former Highlands head man, Dale Mueller. Matter of fact, much of what we learned about Mueller came from an article written by Terry Boehmker, a sports writer for the NKyTribune. His article is linked here.

We thank Mr. Boehmker for his fine work. Without his efforts this article may well have never been published.

Mueller is not your average cat. This is especially true for a guy who has plied his wares in everything from mechanical engineering in the private sector, to teaching and coaching at the high school level where he thrived, to playing in a Beetles cover duet. Mueller is a “renaissance man.”

Let’s first examine the term, “thrive.” Overall, Mueller won 309-games against 67-losses over a 29-year career. In 20-years at Fort Thomas Highlands, Mueller was 250-36 with 11-titles and 14-appearances in KHSAA title games.

Averaging 10.66 (or so) wins over 29-years is “thriving.” Winning 12.5-games a year, over 20-years, with an appearance in the state title game at the conclusion of 70% of those seasons while winning a title 55% of those years is also “thriving.”

Let us know if you would define “thriving” some other way. If the name of the game is winning titles, Mueller was playing chess when other all-timers were both hammering and stumbling around a checker board.

Mueller grew up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was the son of a teacher.

Mueller played football and baseball in high school, lettering in both. He concentrated on baseball in college. Mueller attended Cornell University, an Ivy League school in New York.

While at Cornell, Mueller majored in mechanical engineering. He worked a private sector job for four or so years before abandoning the big money for a career in teaching and coaching. The rest is history.

Mueller, in the interview for Terry Boehmker’s article in the NKyTribune, said, “I’d say to a linebacker, ‘Bust through that double-team and knock down that 230-pound running back even though you only weigh 170 pounds.’ It’s a lot easier to stand on the sideline and do that than be the guy who actually goes out and does it.”

Mueller said that to support his position the players are the ones who get coaches into Halls of Fame. We have heard scores of great ones make a similar claim.

All high school coaches have “players.” Not all high school coaches are able to develop their players into the type players the great ones produce. Not all of those players develop into the type players needed to win championships.

There is a ton of coaching which factors into the equation. This is a hill on which I will gladly die!

We will have to agree to disagree on this. We won’t be engaging in that “chicken/egg”-type argument, at least not today.

Still, the great ones, like Dale Mueller, are great for a reason. In Mueller’s case, his natural ability and penchant for strong analytical thinking, attention to detail, and his ability to work well with others were all prized traits both in his chosen field of study (mechanical engineering) and on the gridiron.

Mueller’s natural abilities lent to his tremendous level of success. So did his Ivy-league level intellect.

Dale Mueller and another former teacher, Chuck Keller, formed a singing duo. The Chalk Brothers, as they have been called, sing all the classics.

These guys sing Beetles tunes, Cat Stevens songs, John Denver songs, and pretty much every other musical act I have ever loved and admired. Seeing Dale Mueller in a tie-die shirt strumming and singing “Peace Train” or “Rocky Mountain High” is a rather unusual sight for a former high school teacher and football coach.

Then again, Dale Mueller ain’t your normal dude. There was nothing normal about his coaching résumé or attainments either; but, in the end, what do we know!

This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!

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