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Educational Relevance
A platform by educators for educators.
Educational Relevance
Coach Mike Dressler
Coach Michael P. Dressler, inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006, has built a remarkable career grounded in a set of five non-negotiable life rules:
Be on Time. Pay Attention. Do Your Best. Do What is Right. Don’t Lie.
More than slogans, these values became the foundation for how he led his teams, taught his students, and influenced generations of young people across Wisconsin. From Pulaski High School to Fond du Lac and beyond, Coach Dressler’s legacy is one of integrity, consistency, and transformational leadership.
Join Bryan Wright and Mark McBeth as Coach Dressler shares how he developed and lived by this code—and how he inspired others to do the same.
For more information about the the topics discussed, contact us at
Bryan Wright: brwright44@gmail.com
Mark McBeth: mark@educationalrelevance.org
If you found value in today’s episode, share it with a colleague, subscribe, and leave us a review. It helps us keep bringing you conversations that matter.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, keep leading with heart—and stay educationally relevant.
okay. Welcome to Educational Relevance, a podcast by educators for educators. I am Bryan Wright. I'm adjunct professor at Concordia University, right now. With me by my side, it's gonna be Mike Dressler. Mike Dressler's, our guest today. But I also have to introduce my partner in crime, Mark Macbeth, acclaimed author, Mark. Good to see you again, sir.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Good to see you.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Our guest today is Mike Dressler, the coach, Mike Dressler has been inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 2006 and has built a remarkable career grounded in the set of five non-negotiable rules. One's be on time. Second is pay attention. Third is do your best. Fourth is do what is right, The fifth is, don't lie. More than slogans, these values became the foundation of how he led his teams, taught his students, and influenced generations of young people across Wisconsin. From Pulaski High School to Fond Lac and beyond, Coach Dressler's legacy is one of integrity, consistency and transformational leadership. This interview explores how he developed and lived by his code. You know, we talk about code quite often here. Now, he inspired others to do the same. I've known Mike for thirty plus years, and make sure I say this to you clearly, there has never been a man who's had such a profound impact when it comes to code and educational philosophy. Not only that, but he has been successful in every venue that he's been to in every aspect of his life because the one thing he believes, he believe in asking why, and he gets students and staff, to believe what he believes. Mike, thank you for being here today. Thank you, Bryan for having me. Mark, you ready to go?
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Yeah, I'm ready. Here's one of the things that really comes to mind for me, Mike, when I, I read your codes and listen to you, your code doesn't say anything about sports. Could you talk a little bit about why you have these five codes and, why they're important, even though you're not saying football, basketball, or whatever.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Uh, there, I think it's not only just a, a series of rules that, uh, apply to athletics or sports, but there are a series of rules that can apply to life. If you can follow those rules, those five rules, and understand them and, and the purpose of them, I. I think it gives you an opportunity to be able to, to lead a life of, uh, happiness and joy and responsibility.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Yeah. Where did these come about? I mean, when did you decide to create five rules?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:The rules kind of evolved over the years. Uh, the, the first one was, uh, the beyond Time was the, the old, as Bryan keeps saying, the old Vince Lombardi concept of, if I say eight o'clock, I want you here at 7 45. And I remember just. When I was teaching in Milwaukee, getting kids to be on time sometimes could be a challenge. And so we, we talked about that and we talked about how being on time has nothing to do with just football. It has to do with what you're gonna do in life because people are expecting you and sometimes they may need your help and you can't be 10 minutes that you have to be there ready to go. And if you wanna be ready to go, that means you gotta be there before they want you. Because you just can't show up and all of a sudden expect that you're gonna be able to do something that's gonna impact that person's life.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Yeah, I just want everybody to know that I actually showed up late to this interview today. here we're talking about, uh, be on time and I'm the one that was late. Sorry about that, coach. Yeah.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Lemme add this one question if I may. Mike, how'd you prepare student athletes to carry onto this code into their academic, personal, and professional lives? I, I think if you want people to follow what I call my five rules, then I think you have to follow'em. You have to be that role model that's going to, to do that. One of the things I've noticed over the years, as coaches say they want this from a kid and they want that from a kid and they want'em to do this, they want'em to do that, but they don't do it. And I remember talking to a gentleman that had me come in and I said, well, if you expect them to do it, but you, you won't do it, then why should they? Well, I don't have the time. And I said, well, you can't tell a kid to do something if you're not willing to be there. If you're not willing to do what he's going to do, then why should they? And I think that's the one thing that you have to understand. No matter what your concepts are, your rules are or whatever, you have to be willing to do'em also, and you have to be willing to demonstrate that to the kids on a daily basis.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:So how did the coach react to that when you tried to hold them accountable to those codes?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:He was angry. He was not happy about that because he said, you know, that's, you know, I have a family and I have this, and I have that, and, I said, I understand that. But then don't they have family? Don't they have other opportunities too? And so if you're having those expectations, I think you should also be willing to follow'em. If not, then you shouldn't expect that from a student. And I, I firmly believe that.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:You know, Bryan talks about this occasionally, uh, when he's referring to code. I keep referring to code versus rules. I apologize, but that's.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Not a problem.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:He talks about non-negotiables sometimes. Are these rules negotiable? Can I, negotiate them with you or not?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:No. We can talk about the the, I'm sure there's always gonna be instances, a situation or whatever. To me, these are a consistent approach to how I believe you should approach not just athletics, but even your daily living. If I can, Mike, do me a favor. We spoke about be on time. Mm-hmm. You gave us some, an example about be on time. Why's so important. talk about the other four, if you don't mind. about the other four and why they're as important as that one. uh, Pay attention when someone's talking to you. Look at'em. Listen to them and understand that they're trying to get their point of view across. And you have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes maybe that person's saying something you don't believe in, but at the same time, you need to listen. And that's the one skill that we're losing today in America, is the opportunity to listen and really hear what people are saying. And, and, and in that essence, being able to accept the fact that there's many different ways to do things and it just can't be your way. Uh, Do your best, do your best. A lot of that has to do with preparation. You can't do your best if you don't take the time to prepare, and you need to spend that time in preparation to be able to do the best you can. Now, does that mean you're gonna win every game? Does that mean you're gonna, you're gonna sell every contract? Does that mean you're gonna No. but at the same time, if you've done the best you can, nobody can expect more. But as I've told kids at the same time, if in fact you don't get that a on that test or we don't win that game, why. Was it something that we could get better at? Or was it the fact that maybe that other team was just that good. Uh, Do what's right. That's, that's huge because, you know, I, I always thought of when I came up with that, uh, John f Kennedy's book, Profiles in Courage, and the people in there who stood up for what they believed was right and sacrificed their career, their integrity, what, what people thought was their integrity and everything else at that time in order to stick to their guns. And, you know, we need some of that today. And then finally, Don't lie. Just be honest with people. You know, that's important. try to be a, you know, you may be gonna say something to people that they don't want to hear, but at the same time you gotta be honest with them. Because this way, as one person said to me one day, I wanna ask you this question'cause I know you won't lie to me.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Let, let me ask you a couple questions to challenge you just a little bit, Mike,'cause I like what you're saying, but I got some thoughts going through my head that I think maybe other people are thinking. Okay. So for an example, pay attention. Coach, you're, I mean, did you really have to pay attention to the kid or does the kid pay attention to you? I mean, isn't.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Oh, no. Oh, no. Some of my best ideas have come from kids, from athletes, from students, because I, I, I was listening to what they had to say. You just can't simply, oh, it's so and so talking to me. What do they know? Sometimes some of the best ideas I've gotten were from my athletes, were from my students, or in some cases even our student managers. And you have you. You have to take that into consideration. You just don't be very blunt, blow somebody off because they're so-and-so. You have to listen to what they're saying because that's important because you never know when somebody is going to be able to give you that gem or that idea or that different way of looking at something.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:All right. I like that response. Um, now my next one is, do your best. Hey coach, I did my best.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Mm-hmm.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Do you know whether that's true or not?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Yes, I do with, uh, coaching today. And the way we have film, I mean, you can take it clip by clip and that's what I was doing at at my last stop is I would look at my positions and what I was coaching and then break it down and then look at where the fundamental breakdown was, if there was a fundamental breakdown. And then on Mondays we would show them each one of the athletes. I'd give'em a little series of clips that for themselves to take a look at with comments on this is why we do this drill, this is why we do this. Kids need to know why we're doing the drill and not just to do the drill, because it's a drill. It's, it's what it does to make them better. And then all of a sudden the light bulb starts to go on. Sometimes yes, the, the athlete maybe got, you know, didn't beat the double team or whatever. And sometimes that happens because we have to understand the other team has good kids too, and they're being coached also.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Yeah, but coach, I'm just not an athlete. I'm not good at math. I'm not good at writing. Um, you know, so it is my best. How do we talk about that inside the classroom as well?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Well, you know, with regards to inside the classroom, you have to understand the fact that I. That's a whole different arena in some respects, and you have to keep on working with that individual. And it all starts with the fundamentals. It starts with just going with one plus, one is two, and and taking it from there. You can't just simply expect a kid to overnight. You know, like on a TV show where all of a sudden the teacher says something and everybody in the classroom lights up, that doesn't happen. And so you have to be very fundamentally sound and you have to start slow and you have to be supportive and you have to encourage. If I may, I think I have two questions, one to ask Coach. Mm-hmm. Alright. First one. Uh, how does a lot of that play into how you earn students respect?
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Hmm.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:If I can ask that first question. Yeah. No respect is something that's earned by a person over a period of time by their actions. I hear that word all the time from people where they say, I, you know, I want your respect. my response to them is, you'll have my undivided attention. But respect is something that is earned by you over a period of time by what you do and how you conduct yourself. Hey, it sound like my, uh, my code doesn't it there,
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Yeah, it sure does. Yeah.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Uh,
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:What's, what's, that's that code.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:huh?
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Repeat that code for everybody.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:My code is Respect is earned not just given, but common courtesy is demanded by all. Correct. And we wanted to make sure that's my code, which I live by. And Mark, I think you know it already, and I think, uh, number of things we're talking about refers right back into your code. And I wanna make sure people know your code right now as well.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Student learning, rigor, relevance, relationships, generates results. So as long as we're generating those relationships, we're, we're creating rigor, like you said, the practice and and rigor, going over and over again, making sure we're getting it. And then they have relevance. They understand the outcome. What that value is gonna be, then we'll have results.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Absolutely. Now there's a second question. I wanna make sure I bring this up to Mike. I think this is so important to what he's discussing today. You know, we have the 5C's: Code, Climate, Culture, Curriculum, and Connections. Now, make sure I say this, Mike was a teacher of the year in one of the districts he was in. So he was recognized for his teaching ability in the classroom, but he was also, at Nicolet High School and won the State Track championship as the head coach in track, which means he had to deal with a whole bunch of different type of kids and type of students and how to motivate them. I'm gonna ask you two questions. All right, Mike, about that. The question is, you had to talk about building a climate and then a culture and the places you've been in. How did you build those things? I think if you wanna build, you know, a culture and if you want to build something that's gonna have a foundation, the only way it's going to be done is over a period of time by how you conduct yourself as a person on and off the field. And that's important and, and you have to, and how you conduct yourself has to have consistency. cannot be something today and then something tomorrow. It has to be consistent. I know at at Nicolet with with the track program, you know, I was fortunate, I'm not gonna lie to you. We had a lot of talent, but the whole thing was getting that talent to be on the same page and getting them to understand and work together. But at the same time, I realized that I needed to communicate with those kids. Those kids had their ideas on what, and I wanted to hear what they had to say. And in some cases they were very good ideas and we, and we incorporated them into our philosophy. I think probably the, the, the one I'm really happy about is, and I think you remember Brian Jones. Okay. He didn't finish the football season with us, and him and I were at loggerheads and by the end of the year, Brian and I were. We got along great. And, and we even said to, I even said to him, maybe Brian, I was a little bit explosive that night with your actions, and he said, no, coach. I deserved it. And we kept in communication after that for many, many years. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And the reason I me that up, mark, and this is something I wanna make sure I let you load this question up. He used connections piece, the connections part to create an instant climate change, what was going on in the school. So, he went and made sure athletes who probably didn't go out the year before on our track team came out because he had built a connection with those kids throughout the school year, and they realized what he was. Next thing you know, they're coming out for the track team. The best athletes, which, I'll be honest with you, some of those athletes sat out the year before, but they came out because Coach Drexel was there. So the climate change was immediate, and he was the change agent.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Well, you know, I, I, I find that fascinating. So you got a formal position as a football coach or a track coach, but you don't have a formal position of empowerment like a high school principal or whatever over the entire school. I. Tell us a little bit about how you think that shapes what you, your, your rules and how you're going in with climate culture for your athletic team and how you treat kids shapes the entire school.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:I don't know how much it impacts the school. Um, I can't speak to that, but, do know that the rules themselves and my expectations did have an impact. I remember when I left Nicolet and I went to Wausau trying to get a, a program there going that had the ability to have an a, a strength program where we would participate. I heard everything from I lift at the Y, I lift with my dad in the garage. And I kept on saying, uh, the Y doesn't have a football team and you're gonna need 10 more guys if you're gonna be in your dad's garage. I said, I'm gonna be here every day. I'm, I expect you to be here every day. All I'm asking is one hour of your time. And that's all I ask. And if you can't sacrifice that one hour, then what else are you not willing to sacrifice? And I think that that comes down to it. But before you can do that, you have to show that you're willing to sacrifice too. And that means that you're going to give time and take time to be with them if and when they call, and they need you to see them, that you're there for them. It's just not, well, I'm, I'm busy right now and I have to tell you, sometimes I did some things and, you know, my wife's listening to this right now and, you know, I would actually leave and go and with, to be with a young person just because they need me at that time.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Did you get kickback from these rules or was it pretty much because of the respect they, they stuck with it?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:I didn't have too much kickback at all from the athletes and or their parents. I think that, you know, one of the things that helped was the fact that we were fortunate enough in most situations to be successful. And they saw the success was a part of, that code that we had. uh, and as a result it became a lot easier. I know when I've interviewed, uh, in my last job, I talked to them about that and, what my expectations were. Their big thing was what happens if a kid doesn't wanna do it? And I said, that doesn't happen. Usually, if I can talk to'em and I can explain it to'em. They're gonna, be there and they'll, do what our expectations are because it's not what they're going to do, it's what we're going to do. You know, Mark, I think Coach Dresler is being a bit, modest. I was an assistant principal when he was there at Nicolet High School. He was there for one year. The year before we were four and five and we were in football, and we did pretty well. We did pretty well for us, four and five was a successful season for years. We had crowds maybe four, 500, come to our games and we were happy. That was great. Coach Dresser came. All of a sudden, the whole tenor, the whole climate, we had the same head coach, assistant coaches. I was one of them, but he came in with a whole different type of attitude and the belief system. started believing what he believed. Our last homecoming year when we we won the conference championship that year. Please understand that. In football, we had well over 2000 people at our game. We had so many people that our home, our home crowd filled, filled up the visitor side as well as the home side. It was an amazing thing in a school that was well known for track and swimming, but not well known for football. I can tell you. And then sure enough, the same thing we talk about him as a teacher. That's why I'm gonna make sure I'm going give that one right there. Coach. We talking about rules in the classroom, how these rules manifested themselves in the classroom, but I also say we won the track title that year, state track. Hey, that gave us kids who were never recognized as champions before. They were champions in two different sports that were never known as before, previously. And you could see a whole lot of kids having their chest out in, uh, in that time. What, how did these rules manifest themselves in the classroom? Because you were successful in the classroom as well. I loved teaching. In my last couple of years, I was at Fon du lac. taught LD world Studies and I worked with another lady and she was the LD teacher, and I was the content teacher. And we just talked about how. We need to listen to these kids. Most of the kids in our class did not speak English, I had translators going on but at the same time, I tried to learn words in Hmong, Spanish, Russian, and German to be able to say to them, Hey, good job. Nice to see you. Have a good day. Because I felt that was important. That I could speak to them, even these little phrases in their language to let them know that I'm, I care about you so much that I'm gonna learn a little bit of your language so I can convey to you that I believe in you and I believe that we're gonna make a success this year. And I think that's important. I think you've gotta go beyond the, uh, curriculum itself and put yourself out there sometimes to let kids know that you care. to me, was one of the ways I did it.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:That was your last year of teaching, you said.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:No, I, it was my, like my last eight or nine years I did that.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:You did that. How do you keep that, this is off the topic slightly, but how do you keep that passion for kids over a longevity of a career? I've had teachers sometimes lose that, that oomph that they had when they were younger. How did you keep that?
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:I just enjoyed what I was doing. I love teaching and I love coaching. It's, it's who I am. I, you know, realized I was very fortunate to find that immediately in my life. That's something that I really enjoyed doing, and that was teaching and coaching. Um, you know, as a teacher and even as a coach, you evolve. You know, think about your first time when you're in the classroom and, and then 10 years later it's, it's, you kind of look back and go, oh my God, did I really do that? Or did I, do you know, why didn't I? Because we, you, you just keep on working and building, and I realized when I was a young teacher and a young coach, that I needed what we call mentors today. My mentor in education was a woman by name, Henrique Schick, and she took me under her wing and she helped me a great deal, become a better teacher and a better person. At the same time, I had these coaches, Bill Bartholomew, Phil Dobbs, uh, Ron Davies, Charlie McDonald, who I just followed like a puppy because they were not only just good coaches, they were good people, and I wanted to learn from them because I realized that they were doing they were doing and impacting people's lives in a, in a, in a particularly positive way. And in some cases, yes, they weren't winning a lot of games, but, the way they dealt with kids was so very important to me.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:So people say education's harder than it ever has been in the history of the United States. What's your final words, that you can summarize your five rules and tell this younger generation how to be successful when they, they feel like it might be harder than ever.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:You know, it is tough and it, and it isn't easy, but at the same time, it's gonna be a growing and a learning process. You have to understand that, and you have to realize that each day is another opportunity. I always say, tomorrow is just another day to get better. People today, they go into situations, be it in coaching and or teaching who expect instant success, and that's not going to happen. It takes time and, and, and it takes you to build what you feel comfortable with and how you are as a teacher. You can't simply say, I'm going to be like, as an example, Henika, schwa. I couldn't be like her because that's who she was and how she dealt with her class. And so you have to realize that sometimes. How you are going to evolve has a lot to do with where you came from and where you want and where, where you want to go, and how bad are you willing to learn to become that, that better person. And that's important. You just can't simply sit back and hope it happens. It's not going to. You need to have a plan and you need to find people who are willing to give you the opportunity to be able to start understanding that plan and how to implement it.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:So what I hear Bryan, is he's saying that uh, there was some essential people in his life that helped create his code and then he chose to live that code and that's how he is able to maintain it for so long.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Not only did he maintain the code he had, but people, he shared that code. People believed in that code. People still believe in that code. And there are those out there right now. Coach, I'll say that needs. The code that you have. I'm gonna end this session with one more question coach, do you define honor and how do you think these days people can live, uh, as an honorable life in your opinion? Oh boy. Which you asked me that before I, I had, and I stopped'cause I thought, whoa, that's a, that's a tough word. And I forgot how I answered it before. Wait, an what do you see fit? Honor, is the ability to be able to look back look forward at the same time and accept the fact that you're trying to get better to help other people. And in doing that, you are, you are actually honoring, not so much you as an individual, but you're honoring the people who gave you the opportunity. To do that. I think that is a fantastic answer. Coach.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:Powerful.
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:Uh, mark, how'd that sound to you?
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:That was powerful. Right? Way to,
bryan_6_05-07-2025_124441:thought so as well. Well, here's what we're gonna do at this point in time. We're gonna wrap this up. I to thank Mike Dressel for coming on and joining us today. Mike. Thank you. Yeah. You know how much I, I love you, man. You know that, you know that. Appreciate you, dude. Appreciate you. Mark, if you were here, I'd be giving you a hug as well. The party, you know, you've been here before, so you know you already got those hugs previously. So with that being said, I'm gonna say thank to both of you, gentlemen. This was a a tremendous session and we gonna say, as always, if you need anything from educational relevance from both Mark or I, you can get the information down at the bottom of this podcast. Let us know. We'll be glad to send you anything you wish to have. In the meantime, we'll say thank you all greatly appreciate it, and thank you for joining us today on educational relevance. Thank you so much. Thanks, Bye-bye.
mark-guest147_3_05-07-2025_124441:bye.