We had a great year. We brought back the fashion shoots but we were only able to do one. We were also able to do 3 great interviews. Hopefully this coming year we can increase that. But otherwise, we had a great year and I believe that 2024 will be even better. It definitely will be more turbulent with it being an election year and so many leftists worried about preserving THEIR democracy: an anti-sematic, Chinese dominated world where prices for milk and gas continue to go up and up as we are led by George Soros and Joe (Lets Go Brandon) Biden. Men of Value will continue to speak out against their values and their dictatorship. We will continue to speak for our Judeo-Christian values and responsibility and sanity. Stick around! 

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In a community an hour south of Chicago, if you bring up anything about sports, it is most likely that the name Denny (Coach) Lehnus will be mentioned with respect as a coach, and more importantly as a person of character. For fifty years he has coached basketball for junior high, high school and college. Many of those years he also coached baseball all the way up to semi-professional.  His record is very impressive; a cumulative record of 1465 wins and only 590 losses. If my math is correct, that is a lifetime winning percentage over 70%. In 1985 and 1988 his junior college team finished second in the nation among National Junior College Athletic Association schools. His accolades are too many to list but let me just mention a few: Coach of the Year for the National NJCAA in 1985 and Coach of the Year nine times for the NJCAA Region 4. He is a member of six different Hall of Fames and has a list of other community and service awards. In contrast to the number of awards are the few words he uses to describe these accomplishments. The words he does use deflect the credit to his parents, wife, kids, assistant coaches, and the many coaches and mentors throughout his life. He is also quick to point out that it should be God that is honored and not him, He states that his achievements are because of the talents that God has given him and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I first met Denny when I was working at an estate sale. This man was looking at a baseball glove and asked how much I wanted for it. I told him five dollars. After some hesitation I lowered the price to two dollars, and he agreed to that price. Since I was a sports fan, I was curious as to why he was getting the glove. He told me that he had a friend who collected baseball gloves and sent them to Nicaragua for the kids. The kids loved the game but could not afford any equipment. At that point I told him that the glove was his and I wouldn’t take anything for it. He was very appreciative. A little while later someone was tapping on my shoulder As I turned to look, I saw it was Denny. He handed me a book on the history of the Chicago Cubs. He said he saw it at another sale, and he just had to get it for me. I was touched by his generosity but even more impressed by his effort. I came to find out he was a St. Louis Cardinal fan. It had to be difficult to be so nice to a Cub fan.

It wasn’t hard for us to strike up conversations since we are both big sports fans. It was much harder for our wives to pull us away from our conversations. After a few of these conversations it was quite apparent to me that he had a lot more interesting stories to offer than I did. So much so that I invited him to breakfast to talk unabated from any interference. I asked him how and when he decided he wanted to go into coaching. His answer surprised me when he said that it was all he ever wanted to do and it was around the age of ten. I have never heard of anyone that wanted to be a coach as a young boy.

He thinks his interest in sports probably came from his father. His father was the youngest of 16 kids and grew up in a farm family. He played basketball and coached in his church’s softball league in what little time he had left for sports. When Denny was a young boy, he and his brother would be bat boys for their father’s church league games. Another way his father inspired his sports trajectory in life was when he built his boys a small basketball court behind the house and up against the alley. He kept working on creating the best use of this minimal space. At one point he added lights so they could play year-round (weather permitting) and when it would get dark. He would continue to improve the space by adding additional lighting using nearby TV antennas and anything else he could find. As the news spread throughout the neighborhood the number of kids that would come to play continued to grow. It became a popular gathering point. They were of all ages and levels of skill but the competition helped Denny hone his skills. It also made it easier for the parents because they would always know where their kids would be.

In high school Denny was a three-sport athlete; baseball was and still is his first love. He credits Sam Miranda, his high school basketball coach, for being his first mentor even though Coach Miranda cut Denny from the basketball team in his junior year. Coach Miranda told Denny he wanted him to spend more time working on his baseball skills. Denny says he was influenced by Coach Miranda’s coaching style and incorporated it into his own coaching methods.

All along it was Denny’s plan to go to college and study something that involved sports. Back in the early sixties there weren’t many options. There were also not many scholarships available. His Aunt called him and told him Anderson College in Indiana had just signed on a new baseball coach of high notoriety: Carl Erskine, a championship pitcher with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers with two no-hitters under his belt. (In just this past year he was a recipient of professional baseball’s prestigious Hall of Fame Buck O’Neill Award for his many years of public service.) He had started coaching at Anderson the year before Denny went to Anderson. Little did Denny know of the influence Coach Erskine would be-not just in baseball, but also in life. Denny was fortunate to have Coach Erskine as his coach for all of his four years at Anderson. Denny graduated from Anderson in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education. Later on, he went on to get his Master’s degree in physical education from Indiana State University.

After graduating from Anderson College in 1965 he returned to his home town and took a job as a junior high school basketball coach. He moved around for the next few years coaching high school basketball before he landed at Kankakee Community College where he would spend the next nineteen years coaching basketball and being the athletic director. Twice he took the team to second place finishes in the National Junior College Association. He finished his tenure with a 548-115 record. In 1993 he returned to Anderson University to be their basketball coach for twelve years followed by eight years back in his hometown. He finished his coaching career by coaching high school freshman where he could coach his grandchildren. His final tally for his career was 964-401 for basketball and 501-189 for baseball.

I asked Denny about his values and the balance between sports and his personal life and what freedom meant to him. He was quick to respond that his values were established very early on his life. He came from a good a home with strong Christian values. He told me that he never missed or was late to his Sunday school class. Even if they were out of town his parents were sure to find some place to go for a lesson. He believes that the heart of any success in sports or life comes from discipline and dedication. You must give it your all and do the best you can. If you do that and have your priorities straight, then you are a winner.

He went on to say the best thing he ever did was conduct weekend retreats for the athletes entering the sports program. The focus was centered around getting your priorities straight with his most important priorities being God, family, education and then sports. He experienced kids coming into the program who were poor, lived in houses with dirt floors without the proper medical care one should have. One of the kids had been wearing shoes that were three sizes too small. Another one of the kids had never eaten at a sit-down restaurant. The camp focused on life issues first before any sports activities happened. He would tell the kids not to let your wins and losses be your scorecard for life. Don’t blame your teammates, coaches, or others for failing. Losing is one of the greatest lessons of athletics. We all fail at times. It’s ok if you learn from the adversity and become smarter from it. Denny told me that something the Marquette University basketball coach Al Maguire used to tell the kids: the best education is sitting on the bench. Don’t be afraid to deal with the hardship-learn from it. Having strong values and trusting them will provide you with freedom from fear. Don’t fear losing or failing, it is all a part of succeeding.

When I asked Denny if his values ever limited him in his life. He said that the life of a coach made for some difficult times. You spend a lot of time at practices and traveling to games and tournaments are many times are centered around holidays. Preparing for games also takes a great deal of time. He was also a two-sport coach which had him working all year round. He didn’t really go out and socialize with his fellow coaches because he didn’t drink alcohol or feel comfortable in bars which was the most practiced way of establishing friends in the coach’s world. He never got to take his family on a vacation, or at least one that wasn’t a road trip for the team. He is grateful that his kids enjoyed sports and visiting different places. Even today, one of his daughters can’t visit a college town without stopping and checking out the sports facilities.

He said he has been very fortunate to have the support he has had throughout his life. Starting with his grandmother who taught him about the discipline of gardening, both of his parents who were very supportive to him and his brother. Even when the brothers were coaching against each other, their parents would change sides at halftime to be fair. So many more people have been influential in his life, but there are too numerous to mention and he doesn’t want to miss anyone. But he wanted to make a special mention of a few. 

First, there was Sam Miranda, his high school basketball coach who gave him a template for how to coach that he adopted for himself. He deeply admires NFL coach Tony Dungy for his openness and boldness for making his faith known. He is especially touched by the role Carl Erskine, his college coach had in influencing him in so many areas of his life in addition to coaching. He helped Denny understand the importance and value of humility, faith, and that there is more to life than sports. Do your best and treat the game, and more importantly life, with respect.

There are many others who had a role in Denny’s life, but probably no one more than his wife of 59 years, Marlew.  As mentioned earlier, the life of a coach is not easy, but the life of a coach’s wife is even more complicated. Taking care of their three children during all the times he was away, then taking care of him when he was home and also preparing and hosting a conservative estimate of 400+ meals for his teams over the years. All of this while being the biggest cheerleader. It was a lot to ask-and she delivered.

Denny made a seamless connection to some of the problems going on in our nation today with that of a team. We are heading for disaster-economically and spiritually. We’ve become too focused and locked onto greed and power; we have become a “me” society. To pull out of this we need to get back to a moral standard. We must act like a team and sacrifice for our team mates. The Bible states it best in the story of the good Samaritan. We need to be less selfish and love one another and follow the path that the Bible has laid out for us. Instead of looking for all the things we don’t have, we need to slow down and reflect on what God has blessed us with. Be thankful every day and stop being so pessimistic.

I asked Denny to tell me something interesting about himself and he laughed as he was telling me he wasn’t a very interesting person. But then told me a couple of stories. The first one happened when he was a teenager and went to a camp for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Colorado. He was gathered in a room with a group of other boys from all over the country. As they went around the room introducing themselves, one name continues to stick out: Mike Ditka. Mr. Ditka was still in college and was being touted as a high prospect tight end from University of Pittsburgh.

A second story of interest was about one of his star athletes, Michael Clarke Duncan. Duncan played two years for Coach Lehnus before going on to becoming an Academy Award nominated actor. Denny recalls one time when he and his team were practicing in Los Angelas and the iconic coach John Wooden was there. No pressure like having John Wooden watching your team practice. Duncan came by for a visit and Coach Wooden came up to Denny and asked if he could get Duncan’s autograph. Denny went over to Duncan to ask him and he was shocked-Duncan was hoping to get Mr. Wooden’s autograph.

After retiring in 2014, Denny put his coaching and life experiences to a different task by becoming a sports consultant and motivational speaker. He conducts speeches and camps putting focus on ethics, faith, life skills and encouraging academics.  He supports a number of service organizations like the Appalachian Reach Out organization that collects clothes and distributes them to those in need. He enjoys spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren. He has taken up gardening and finds the joy that his grandmother had doing it many years ago. My bet is that he is quite good at it-he has had a lot of practice nurturing seeds that mature into beautiful blossoms.

There was one particular thing Denny said that really sums him up to me. He told me that it is nice to be recognized and honored by being in hall of fames, but the only one that matters to him is God’s Hall of Fame.

            He does not measure greatness by the scale of wealth and fame

               But the smallest act of mercy is great in Jesus Name

               If at His judgement I stand before His throne and He says well done thou good and faithful one

               I’ll have a place in God’s Hall of Fame

                        (Excerpt from the poem God’s Hall of Fame by Edgar Guest)