Steve Kersten, the head football coach at Williamston High School, lives a double life.
When the first bell rings to start the school day, Kersten is in the classroom teaching his Algebra class and heading the robotics program. Once that final bell rings, Kersten lives his second life as one of the winningest prep football coaches in the state of Michigan.
Kersten has been a full-time Algebra teacher at Williamston High since 1998, with a degree in education, math, and computer science. Since he started teaching, he’s also been at the helm of the Hornets’ football program.
For Kersten, however, it’s not about the wins. The impact that he has been able to make on young lives has been his driving force.
“There’s not a greater noble cause than helping young people try to figure out life,” Kersten said.
He was recently inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, recognized for his numerous accomplishments on the field. A four-time conference champion, a 17-year state playoff qualifier, and two-time Lansing State Journal Coach of the Year, his name is synonymous in the Michigan high school football scene with victory.
The story doesn’t begin on the football field, rather, in a classroom.
“I actually love teaching Algebra, I love my Algebra classroom,” Kersten said. “I’ve done it for a lot of years, so I already kind of know what problems kids are going to have, or certain problems they’re going to have with each day or each lesson, and I enjoy watching kids succeed and have growth.”
Beyond his Algebra class, Kersten pointed out his involvement in Williamston’s robotics program, in which he was asked to lead when the school launched its Math-Science Academy.
Kersten was enthusiastic when speaking about his experience with the program, nearly as if he was a student himself. Holding competitions and learning alongside students, it’s through the robotics program where he sees his closest relationships with kids form outside of the field.
“We’ve gotten very tight,” Kersten said. “Sometimes robotics club works until midnight. You know, we’re working after school till midnight to get a project done or to get a go-kart ready to go for the competition. So I’ve gotten very close to them, we share meals together, and I love to see people grow. For those kids that I’ve spent multiple hours with, I can see a ton of growth.”
A lot of the impact of the robotics program is in one-on-one interactions. He feels like the program allows him to not just teach, but learn alongside students.
“I remember on the first day we got robotics kits in my classroom, I’d never even looked at them yet, and we opened them up like Christmas day on the first day of school with the kids,” Kersten said. “I learned alongside them. Actually the kids were way ahead of me. They learned stuff and I said, ‘Teach me so I know how to teach this next year.’”
It’s the personal side of being a math and Algebra teacher that makes the job so worth it for Kersten. Being able to help a student work through an issue while also learning alongside them are some of the many gifts that being able to teach has brought him.
This aspect of his teaching is evident not just to students, but also to staff around him.
“Kids are comfortable going up to him, he gravitates to them,” Williamston Athletic Director Paige Paulsen said. “He puts an arm around their shoulder. He’s to the point in his career where he doesn’t have to be loud, screaming and vocal to get his point across. His communication when something needs to be addressed, he can do that by a look, or a quick, ‘Hey, Im disappointed that happened, but let’s move forward, how do we solve this.’”
Once that final bell rings in the fall, Kersten becomes one of the winningest football coaches in the state. It’s on the gridiron where he is still teaching, just in a different way.
It is through football that he has been able to mix analytics with empathy while still being around the game he loves.
“More than just football wins, it’s very rewarding. It’s a noble cause.” Kersten said. “It gives it kind of a purpose of ‘hey, we’re doing all this work, especially knowing that we get paid very little for the coaching. It shows it gives worth to what’s going on and all the time you put in.”
The football season is long, and requires close connections for a team to bond well. The sport often requires coaches and players to do life together, not just play a sport as one. Coaching for over 30 years, his success may very well be attributed to his relationship-based mindset.
“You don’t stick around in a high profile job like football that has some success in a community that is prolific in sports and academics without having that piece of inclusion and the ability to communicate on multiple levels; Kids with teaching, his players, and then parents as well.” Paulsen said.
This inclusion is more than just giving a wide receiver advice on a route. It’s about living life with the kids he is coaching.
“We can see kids out at practice that are emotional and it’s not about football it’s about whatever happened, you know, a girlfriend broke up with them, or the parents are getting divorced, or whatever situation they’re in,” Kersten said. “There’s lots of opportunities to invest in these young men.”
Although his story could be told over a lifetime, there’s one main thing Kersten has learned from it all:
“There’s joy in the process. When you win a football game that you should have won, it’s a relief. When you lose a tough game, it hurts. It takes time,” Kersten said. We’re not as resilient as the kids are. The kids are more resilient than we are as coaches, but it’s just that the process is a critical thing, and the relationships are everything.”
The joy in the process for Kersten could be epitomized in a small business card he received in the mail from a former student. He flipped the card over, to see if something was written on the back.
And he found his own motto:
“Champions on the field, champions in the classroom, champions in life.”