The lasting impact of North Bullitt HS football coach Mike Hall
TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. — The mission statement for Spencer County Public Schools is 鈥淕oing the distance for all students.鈥� They should add a picture of Coach Hall next to it because that鈥檚 what he does. Coach Hall has been in the education field and coaching football for the last 52 years. I was lucky enough to play for him when I was in high school.
I鈥檝e also been able to teach and coach with him at two different schools once I got into education. The passion Coach Hall has for young people is tremendous. The things I鈥檝e seen him do for kids are amazing. If he knows a student needs something or is going without, you can bet that student won鈥檛 be tomorrow. I鈥檝e seen him bring in school supplies, food, clothes, shoes, cleats, practice gear and countless other items to students over the years. It really doesn鈥檛 matter what it is. If Coach Hall can help in any way, then that is what he does. As a student or a teacher, my entire time in education, I have never met a more caring individual.
Being coached by Coach Hall was great. He joined North Bullitt鈥檚 staff as the defensive coordinator my JR year. We were 1-9 the season before he took over the defense. No one demanded more from you than him. He had a big role in changing the culture of our football team. Coach Hall has a great mind for football. He eats, sleeps, and breaths football. In my SR year, our defense was one of the best in the state. We had six defensive shutouts and made the playoffs for the 1st time in years and the only time in my high school career.
Being coworkers with Coach Hall is also great. If you ever need anything, you can depend on him. Coach Hall is the first person in the building every day. He is always here; it seems like. That鈥檚 why I still can鈥檛 wrap my mind around him not being here. After 52 years, Coach Hall is retiring. I know I鈥檓 going to miss his contagious smile. I will miss hearing him ask every student in the hallway he passes how they are doing, young man or young lady. I know I鈥檓 going to miss his food advice and how different restaurants he and his wife have been to are. For the ones who don鈥檛 know, Coach Hall is a food critic and a hard one to please at that. On the football field, coaching beside him was awesome. No one on the staff wants to win more than him. The players know he cares about them. Every year players come into school or come by practice to see the coaches, and Coach Hall always greets them with a big hug and a smile.
After my teaching and coaching career is over, I hope to look back and have a fraction of the impact Coach Hall has had on my players and students over the years. I was telling someone the other day that I needed to be more like Coach Hall. He asks everyone he passes how they are doing. He tells everyone that he appreciates them, and he means it. He goes out of his way to form relationships with students and coworkers. Coach Hall has a way of making everyone feel important and cared about. Selfishly I wish he wasn鈥檛 going to retire, but after 52 years, I get it. As I鈥檓 writing this, it鈥檚 hard to pinpoint one thing I鈥檓 going to miss the most about Coach Hall. He does so many amazing things and is just such a good person you can鈥檛 pick just one thing. Coach Hall is a legend, and he will be missed by everyone!
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