BROOMFIELD — Mike Croell turned into a Broomfield icon before walking away from the girls basketball program that he molded into one of the best in state history. But it was time for the 2015 Dave Sanders Colorado Coach Award winner to think of himself and his family.
And so, at age 49, he chose to leave his beloved Eagles after they won the state championship, their sixth title overall and first at the Class 5A level, in March. And he’s at peace with the decision.
“The reason that I got out, and I hated to leave this group with all of the great kids we had, but the sole reason I left was my two boys,” Croell said.
Steven, who’s into football, basketball and baseball, will be a freshman. Chad, who favors cross country, basketball and track, will be a senior.
“I’m just kind of trading coaching for being a spectator,” Croell said. “You don’t want to miss your own kids.”
The Eagles will certainly miss Croell, who compiled a 457-69 record in 20 years and won six state titles, including five in a row in Class 4A from 2007-11. During that stretch, Broomfield was an astounding 134-6. No Croell-coached team failed to make at least the state quarterfinals, and the Eagles made the final four 14 times.
“He’s a very good coach,” said Highlands Ranch girls basketball coach Caryn Jarocki, the 2007 Sanders Award winner. “I’ve always respected him.”
Said last year’s honoree, Carl Mattei, who coaches Regis Jesuit girls basketball, “He’s definitely a good choice.”
Callie Kaiser, who led this past season’s title run and was named Ms. Colorado Basketball by The Denver Post, said: “Yeah, it is weird knowing that if we ever get a chance to go back and scrimmage and watch him, he won’t be there. But it’s probably the best thing to watch his two boys.”
Croell, who will still help coach the Eagles’ freshman football program, admits he loved coaching girls basketball but will be comfortable in the stands. (Derek Seifried, the Eagles’ boys JV coach, is now in command.) Croell could be as intense as anyone on the sideline, but it was modified by his intelligence, caring and an aw-shucks demeanor.
“Mike epitomizes the old-school coach who found a way to evolve,” said Steve Shelton, the Broomfield athletic director who will become a Boulder Valley AD. “He is still able to keep up with the kids at present. He keeps them on their toes.”
Croell, whose wife, Sue, is a teacher — they also have a daughter, Katie, who attends South Dakota School of Mines — is like so many others who remember where they were and what they were doing April 20, 1999, the date of the Columbine shooting.
“Oh, yeah,” Croell said. “I was in class and starting to hear little bits and pieces from students. And then they announced it on the speakers. The day was pretty much over, and I just remember that I had to drive down to Parker to pick up a barbecue grill. I was listening to the radio all the way down and all the way back.
“Being a schoolteacher, it really hit home. It’s really because of the massacre that it spawned an awareness for things like this in a public school. Lockdown drills are now part of the norm. It was so incredibly tragic. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of stuff that part of our society deals with, and you have to get through it.”
Croell said he and his wife, while attending a baseball game for son Chad, went through the memorial near Columbine.
“Just to walk through there, we were just silent and started crying,” Croell said. “It was really sad, but very moving.
“You never want it to happen here, but you’ve got to remember that kind of stuff. Being a history teacher, if you don’t learn from history, it will repeat itself. It’s amazing how many times it repeats itself.”
Former Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis knows the history of the Sanders Award and endorses the selection.
“Mike is a great representative for the Dave Sanders Award, and Mike’s not only knowledgeable as a basketball coach, he cares about kids and that’s everything that Dave represented,” DeAngelis said. “He’s a great friend to his players and has left a legacy like Dave did.”
As for things to do now that he won’t be the girls basketball coach, Croell can take his pick. Beyond watching his sons, he likes to fish. Play in an over-40 hoops league. He hasn’t been to the mountains as often as he likes. He hits “just enough good golf shots” to keep coming back. And he can always tinker with his considerable sports memorabilia collection, which is topped by a program from 1947 signed by Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
His run at coaching girls, whom he called “sponges, because they don’t play as much as guys play, they don’t know it all and are really receptive to coaching,” may be over.
“But they give you everything they’ve got,” he said.
“Me? I’ll be fine.”
About the Dave Sanders Award
By eyewitness accounts, William “Dave” Sanders was a hero on April 20, 1999. The 47-year-old teacher and coach, a Columbine High School faculty member for 25 years, helped numerous students get to safety before he was killed, along with 12 teen- agers, by student gunmen. In honor of his commitment to young people, notably girls sports, The Denver Post presents the annual Dave Sanders Colorado Coach Award. In accordance with the Sanders family, including his wife, Linda Lou Sanders, The Post recognizes a high school coach who not only has longevity and success in teaching and coaching but also has outstanding character. Former Columbine coach Rick Bath, Sanders’ best friend, presents a plaque to the award winner. In 2000, Sanders was awarded an ESPY and the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. He was honored posthumously with the first Dave Sanders Award in 1999. Broomfield girls basketball coach Mike Croell, who retired after this past season, is the 2015 honoree.
Previous winners
2000: Dick Katte, retired boys basketball coach at Denver Christian who leads the state with an all-time record of 876-233. He was head coach for 48 years and won eight state championships.
2001: Maurice “Stringy” Ervin, retired from coaching swimming at Littleton after 49 years. His Lions won seven boys state titles and five girls state titles.
2002: Rick Bath, who was a veteran teacher and coach at Columbine, and Sanders’ best friend. He is retired.
2003: Warren Mitchell, who coached Colorado high school sports for 60 years, including 57 heading boys track at Limon. He died in 2014.
2004: Montbello’s Don Gatewood, who surpassed 30 years in teaching and retired after 35 years as boys track coach. He won eight big-school state titles, including one at Manual.
2005: Pam Fagerlund, who has coached Flagler volleyball for 31 years. She has a 604-206 record with four small-school championships.
2006: Judy Barnett, a girls sports pioneer and coach who won 398 volleyball games and four state titles at Manitou Springs, and was an assistant commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association.
2007: Caryn Jarocki, girls basketball coach at Class 3A Colorado Academy and 5A Highlands Ranch, who completed her 33rd year. She has a 547-157 career record (the best in Colorado) and seven state championships.
2008: Leslie Moore, who retired after 40 years in Denver Public Schools and was instrumental in developing Colorado girls sports as a coach, official and administrator.
2009: Gail Hook, a 27-year coach of girls basketball, most recently at Monarch, where she taught physical education and health. She retired after the 2014-15 season and also has been active in women’s sports on the state and national levels.
2010: Sally Moos, a health and physical education teacher who has 32 years at Cherry Creek, the state’s largest school. She’s heading into her 30th year coaching volleyball, in which she has won five state titles, most recently in 2008; and she recently finished her 33rd year coaching girls track. The Bruins won the 5A title in 2013.
2011: Bob Bledsoe, Erie, who oversaw girls basketball for 34 years (387-152 record) until 2011 and coached softball (405-87-1) over 20 seasons into 2015, with a state-leading 11 titles and three second-place finishes. He will be an assistant at Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction next season.
2012: Sue Snyder, Simla, longtime volleyball coach who was also at Ellicott and has a career record of 608-155 with two state titles. She just finished her 32nd year.
2013: Patty Childress, Grandview, who also has coached at Idalia, in Washington state, Palisade and Mesa State. Her Wolves have been a power in 5A, and she has a 475-161 prep record with five titles, five runners-up and 12 semifinal showings.
2014: Carl Mattei, who has coached girls basketball at Regis Jesuit for 11 seasons and has a 232-53 record with three 5A titles, two runner-up finishes and nine final fours.
About Mike Croell
Age: 49
College: University of Northern Colorado, 1988
Career: Coached at Hi-Plains in Seibert, Fairview in Boulder and Broomfield
Career record: 457-69 in girls basketball at Broomfield over 20 seasons with five Class 4A championships, one in 5A and at least a quarterfinals appearance in every season.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
