Editor’s Be aware: This text appeared in WIN’s Quantity 32 Situation 12, which printed on Sept. 15, 2026.

By Wes Littlefield

Dublin Coffman coach Likelihood Van Gundy has constructed one among Ohio’s prime applications by embracing evolution, trusting the method and discovering success within the particulars.

He began wrestling as a result of his older brother wrestled; ultimately, it turned his profession. Likelihood Van Gundy’s introduction to wrestling was abnormal sufficient. His accomplishments as a wrestler and coach have been something however.

He turned a three-time NCAA Division II nationwide qualifier at Ashland College and earned All-American honors with a fifth-place end as a senior. He proved he was greater than only a wrestler when he additionally earned Educational All-American honors.

However Van Gundy didn’t begin teaching just because he was a profitable wrestler. He had been making ready for it lengthy earlier than he realized it.

His aunt was an elementary faculty instructor, and Van Gundy remembers enjoying faculty as a child at her home and claiming the function of instructor over his siblings. He additionally thought-about changing into a police officer, like his father, however a highschool instructor instructed him he had a present for educating. That caught with him.

From that time on, “I needed to see my workforce achieve success, not simply me,” Van Gundy mentioned.

Van Gundy’s school wrestling expertise has confirmed precious as a coach. Faculty pressured him to evolve as a result of wrestlers (and coaches) who don’t evolve get left behind. Extra importantly, it taught him to benefit from the course of and the way a lot the main points matter.

“I didn’t understand how vital the main points are till I wrestled in school,” he mentioned. These particulars now present up in how he runs his room at Dublin Coffman, a nationally ranked highschool program.

Van Gundy took over the Shamrocks for the 2012-13 season. Moderately than decreasing expectations to construct numbers, Van Gundy and his workers raised them. The outcomes adopted.

Van Gundy was named Ohio’s Division I Coach of the Yr for the 2021-22 season after Dublin Coffman gained its seventh consecutive sectional title, its fourth straight district title, and completed third on the state match.

However ask Van Gundy what he enjoys most about teaching, and the reply isn’t profitable championships. It’s creating the reminiscences.

He loves watching his wrestlers obtain their objectives after which look again and understand the method mattered as a lot because the outcome. Van Gundy calls it getting them to grasp the “why” and purchase into what he’s teaching, notably when he desires them to develop in a particular place. He believes “generally a wrestler has to fail at one thing repeatedly earlier than they perceive why it issues. You recognize what’s proper for this child, however how do I get this child to realize it?”

The persistence to stroll alongside and develop his wrestlers has modified the way in which Van Gundy constructions observe. Early in his teaching profession, he admits his practices had been overkill. He needed troublesome practices however ultimately realized that making each observe troublesome isn’t essentially higher. An excessive amount of intense quantity can result in extra accidents and go away wrestlers flat and underperforming when the postseason arrives.

Now, he’s widened his view and thinks about the whole season. “There completely must be days that make wrestlers uncomfortable,” he mentioned, “however coaches even have to grasp when to permit their athletes to relaxation.”

“It’s not a dash; it’s a marathon.”

That philosophy extends to younger wrestlers, too. Van Gundy doesn’t assume a six-year-old must win Tulsa Nationals. He’d somewhat see younger wrestlers develop a love for the game and proceed transferring ahead. “Growth and evolving are extra vital than profitable,” he mentioned. “I all the time inform my youngsters to maintain your arrow pointing up.”

There’s a simplicity to Van Gundy’s strategy, however there’s additionally numerous element. He treats wrestling as a martial artwork, not merely a sport. He’s a self-described “conditioning nut.” However conditioning and approach are solely a part of what Van Gundy is making an attempt to construct.

He has realized to encompass himself with people who find themselves higher at sure issues than he’s. As a substitute of making an attempt to hold each duty himself, he has progressively handed items of this system to his assistants.

“I went from doing the whole lot with all of it on my shoulders, and I’ve been handing the keys to the automotive off, and it’s value it,” Van Gundy mentioned.

Which may be the largest change in Van Gundy’s teaching profession. He used to assume extra duty meant carrying extra of it himself. Now he understands that constructing a profitable program means trusting different folks and giving them room to contribute.

The payoff isn’t simply what occurs in the course of the season. It’s the previous wrestlers who return after conducting objectives he didn’t. And, more and more, it’s the belief that the coach isn’t the one one doing the inspiring.

“The one factor that has actually modified is inspiring youngsters,” Van Gundy mentioned. “I’m ready now the place I’m getting impressed by my wrestlers. They encourage me. It’s one of many coolest issues to verbalize as a result of it’s true.”

For a coach who began wrestling at eight as a result of his older brother did, that may be the most effective measure of how far the game has taken him. He started wrestling as a result of another person was already within the room. Now, he’s constructing a wrestling room that offers the following era a motive to remain.