Connections and relationships. Hard work. Attention to detail. Leadership.

They mattered then, when Mike Noll started coaching high school football players in Clarion, Iowa, in 1985. They matter now. They are values, Noll believes, that young people still need to be taught in today’s culture.

They will never go out of style, and neither will Noll.

After leading his Richmond-Burton Rockets to 12 wins and one victory from a berth in the Class 3A state championship game, Noll is the 2025 Northwest Herald Football Coach of the Year, as voted on by the sports staff with input from area coaches.

It’s the sixth time Noll has won the award and the first time since R-B went 14-0 in winning the 2019 Class 4A state title. He won the award four times as McHenry’s coach (1994, 1998, 2000, 2003).

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