Respected leader Bergstrom to join CHS Hall of Fame

Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on 2015 inductees into the Creston Community Schools Hall of Fame at 12:15 p.m. Friday in the CHS auditorium. See Thursday's story on inductee Larry Peterson.

He was known as much for his dynamic leadership approach as for his success on the football field.

Dick Bergstrom, a member of the teaching and coaching staffs for 33 years, will be inducted Friday into the Creston High School Hall of Fame as a distinguished faculty member.

The induction ceremony will take place at 12:15 p.m. Friday in the CHS auditorium, in conjunction with the homecoming queen coronation. He will also appear in the 2 p.m. homecoming parade through uptown Creston, and be introduced at 7 p.m. at Panther Field prior to the 7:30 p.m. homecoming football game against Glenwood.

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Bergstrom, who recently completed his fifth season as a football coach in Europe after retiring from teaching in June 2010, said he was surprised and honored to receive the congratulatory letter this summer from CHS Principal Bill Messerole. The school administrator is joined by a community volunteer committee each year to vote on nominations.

“I was surprised and excited to receive that letter,” said Bergstrom, who was coaching the Bielefeld Bulldogs in Germany at the time. “You always think you’re working hard and trying to do the right thing, but you’re humbled when other people recognize that.”

The Panther football program gained statewide respect as a consistent postseason contender for more than three decades under Bergstrom’s guidance.

The Cedar Falls native who played football at the University of Northern Iowa was head football coach for 33 years at CHS (1977-2009), which included 17 straight winning seasons and 10 playoff teams. His record at Creston was 175-136, with an overall Iowa high school coaching record of 204-156, placing him among just 44 Iowa coaches all-time to reach 200 wins. He is a member of the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

“I don’t know if the general public realizes how hard it is to be consistently good enough to win 200 football games,” said current Panther coach Brian Morrison, in his sixth year as head coach.

Bergstrom was also a high school mathematics, health and physical education teacher during his time at CHS, and served as National Honor Society sponsor for several years. In the classroom, he was known to be available for students who needed extra help.

“I always felt Mr. Bergstrom was diligent about assisting students who needed to come in and get extra help,” said longtime CHS Principal Ron Levine. “Probably the main thing is, he was a very good role model to the students. I always thought his use of language and conduct was outstanding. He was an example for young people, and they notice those things more than we may realize.”

His wife, Sue, was also a longtime elementary teacher in the Creston School District. They are the parents of two children, the late Bryce Bergstrom and Brittney Trilk. Brittney and husband Joe Trilk live in Waukee and are the parents of a son, Bryce, and two daughters Harper and Kampbell.

Bergstrom took a meticulous approach to the football field. He was admired for his organizational skills and emphasis on integrity and high character. Morrison said it “resembled a small college program” when he arrived as a volunteer assistant 13 years ago.

Staff longevity

John Rose and Galen Zumbach immediately became part of a stable coaching staff that has also included Steve Birchard and Darrell Frain for the past 23 years. Bergstrom said another key in building the program was having experienced coaches like Dick Skarda, Curt Olson and Gary Wimmer working at the middle school level.

“I think the kids had fun playing for those guys and they learned the game, which is what it’s all about,” Bergstrom said.

Success wasn’t immediate. Bergstrom arrived in 1977 and did not lead a team to the school’s first playoff appearance until 1985. He had previously coached at Sibley for two years, South Winneshiek of Calmar for a year and three years at Sac City.

At Creston, he saw potential in a good-sized school that played in a competitive conference, but he recognized that football needed to be a higher priority.

“Bill Nielsen was a good coach and they had some good football players before I got here,” Bergstrom said. “I don’t know if it was more of a baseball, basketball (and wrestling) town at the time or what, but we needed to build some enthusiasm.”

Breakthrough year

That 1985 team, which includes some parents of players currently going through the program, was a breakthrough team that not only made the postseason for the first time, but played Harlan competitively at Merrill Field in a 21-11 defeat, with one touchdown return called back on a penalty.

“The 1985 team was real special to me,” Bergstrom said. “It was the first year we were really good. Football had kind of been on a second level here. But once you have some success like that — the state wrestling and basketball teams here are examples of that — it’s an impetus for continuing it. Kids go up and watch and want that for themselves.”

Rose, who has authored a book on offensive line blocking with a second edition in the works, was a valuable sounding board for Bergstrom over the years.

“His football knowledge is tremendous, and I quickly recognized that,” Bergstrom said. “I’d say what I wanted to do, and he’d figure out how to do it. Coach (Galen) Zumbach came the same year as I did and I asked if he wanted to coach. He decided he would, and he was a guy you could always trust as a member of your staff. Then we had guys like (Steve) Birchard, (Darrell) Frain and (Steve) Shantz and they always did a good job. We definitely had some longevity on the staff, which is helpful.”

Respectful approach

Instilling personal responsibility and accountability among his players was as important to Bergstrom as teaching offensive plays and defensive schemes.

“As a high school teacher and coach, you are a role model to a degree,” Bergstrom said. “You hope to accomplish that. When you work in the public eye, you know you’re not always going to have their approval. But you try to be fair and make kids accountable.”

One year, when Creston High School was still on Maple Street, a young coach arrived with a crass style. He often barked obscenity-laced tirades toward his teenage players.

"I tried to say to him, as a person in charge of a program, I don't think that's a positive," Bergstrom said. "I don't think you have to do that to tell a kid he did wrong. I always tried to explain to kids, I'm not saying you are bad, just what you did was not right. I try not to tear people down. I prefer to instruct and teach them to do it right. For some coaches, their motivation is demeaning a kid. I would like to think I was a positive influence. It's not that I never yelled, but I did not attack them personally. I attacked what they had done. If the kids respect you, your chance for success is better."

Respect was a constant surrounding Bergstrom and the program he built. For Morrison, it came on his first day in Creston while moving into his house on Crest Drive with wife Tina.

“We had just gotten married, we’re trying to move in and get ready for new jobs, and I look out back and coach Bergstrom is mowing my yard!” Morrison said. “It was unreal. He was push mowing my yard, and it was not small. He got the entire thing done. That’s the type of person Mr. Bergstrom is.”

Surprise visit

Current Creston Elementary Principal Scott Driskell likewise has a story, after his Earlham team had reached the playoffs for the first time. A pep assembly at the school included an appearance by Bergstrom, who at the time was still head coach in Creston. The appearance was a surprise to Driskell.

“To this day, one of my proudest moments came as I stood there and listened to my football coach, mentor and role model talk about Earlham football and how proud it made him of our success,” Driskell said. “To take the time out of his busy schedule as a teacher and a coach to come speak that day tells me just what kind of coach, teacher and human being coach Bergstrom is.”

McCann memories

Kyle McCann was a star on Creston’s state basketball championship in 1997, and a Division I recruit as a quarterback for Bergstrom. He played at the University of Iowa and led Kirk Ferentz’s first bowl team to a victory at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. He later played on an NFL Europe team as a professional player and was in the New York Jets training camp.

McCann is now an attorney with Brick Gentry P.C. in West Des Moines, but he hasn’t forgotten lessons from his high school football coach.

“I have often told anyone willing to listen how fortunate I feel to have had coach Bergstrom as a high school coach,” McCann said. “I worked on quarterback drills he taught me until the last day I played professional football. In my daily life, I am constantly reminded of and apply lessons I learned from him. Coach Bergstrom was instrumental in me becoming a Division I athlete. I could never thank ‘Coach’ enough for all he has done for me.”

Bergstrom said he still enjoys coaching in the German Football League, which allows him to be reimbursed for travel expenses and housing while getting time to travel throughout Europe relatively inexpensively. Morrison has a hunch there’s another reason he hasn’t fully retired.

“Coach Bergstrom is a student of the game and he loves coaching football,” Morrison said. “I learned that just from traveling with him to various coaching clinics. It is his passion.”

Driskell, also a standout quarterback who went on to play the position in college, echoed McCann’s comment about owing so much to his high school coach, even to this day.

“I would argue that I was able to play for a football coach who was THE example in what you want to have as a teacher and coach,” Driskell said. “To this day, even though I am no longer in coaching, I try to emulate the characteristics that made coach Bergstrom so successful.”