Best of 2025 Re-Air
In 2025, Michael Echaves, head coach at Troy High School, launched a new interview series, The Turnaround, focused on real-world high school football turnaround stories. The goal was simple but overdue: to create honest conversations with coaches who had taken over struggling programs and rebuilt them through leadership, culture, and disciplined process — not shortcuts. This series highlights the challenges coaches face during a football program rebuild, including losing seasons, fractured culture, staff turnover, and low belief.
One of the most impactful episodes in this high school football turnaround series—and a standout on our Best of 2025 list—is the conversation with Steve Pyne.
Why This Episode Matters
Steve Pyne brings a rare perspective on program rebuilds, having been through every stage firsthand. He has:
- taken over struggling programs
- sustained long-term championship success
- confronted his own leadership failures
- and later stepped into another full rebuild by choice
Pyne explains that true program turnaround leadership centers on accountability before scheme, relationships before control, and unchanging standards despite the scoreboard. He refuses to present a tidy success story. Instead, he walks through how a real high school football turnaround unfolds — uneven, frustrating, and deeply tied to the coach’s evolution as a leader.
Core Lessons From the Conversation
Several themes surface repeatedly throughout the episode, underscoring key principles of high school football coaching during a rebuild:
- Turnarounds start with behavior, not talent.
Pyne explains that many struggling programs don’t lack athletes—they lack standards, clarity, and belief. Until behavior and expectations are addressed, scheme changes simply don’t stick. - Accountability must be taught and reinforced.
From academics to attendance to communication, accountability isn’t assumed. Instead, it’s modeled, coached, and revisited constantly—especially in rebuilds. - Pressure from the head coach multiplies downward.
One of the most powerful moments comes when Pyne reflects on how his own sideline behavior put pressure on his players that they couldn’t handle. Consequently, leadership maturity became a turning point in championship growth. - Culture must be rebuilt continuously.
Even successful programs regress when leaders assume “they get it.” Therefore, Pyne emphasizes re-teaching standards every year, with every group, which is a crucial element in any football program rebuild. - Wins follow investment — not the other way around.
The episode reinforces a central turnaround principle: investment creates competitiveness, competitiveness creates belief, and belief eventually shows up on the scoreboard.
About the Host: Michael Echaves
Michael Echaves — Head football coach at Troy High School — created The Turnaround series to document real-world rebuilds, drawing from his own experience leading programs through cultural resets, staff alignment, and competitive growth. His role as both host and practitioner gives the series its grounded, practical tone, making it a go-to resource for coaches facing challenges in high school football turnarounds.
Coaches Featured Across The Turnaround Series
- Steve Pyne – Head Coach at Union High School in Oregon- Pyne has led multiple programs through difficult rebuilds by emphasizing accountability, culture, and long-term standards over quick fixes.
- Charlie TeGantvoort – Head Coach at Marina High School (CA)- discusses early-stage program turnaround work, with a focus on clarity of expectations and building buy-in from players and staff.
- Masaki Matsumoto – Head Coach who transformed struggling programs at Bernstein High School and Lincoln High School, sharing insights on accountability, structure, and cultural transformation in resource-challenged environments.
- Andrew DiDonato – Head Coach at Grove City College – DiDonato talks through vision, commitment, and resetting the program identity following periods of difficulty.
- Erick Knickerbocker – Featured in Restore the Rock, Knickerbocker brings a perspective on restoring belief and a competitive mindset within struggling teams.
- Brett Mertens – Head Coach at Montrose High School (CO), Mertens focuses on “making football cool” again — revitalizing culture, energy, and standards in programs where enthusiasm had faded.
- Ken Krause – Newly retired Head Coach at Muskego High School (WI), Krause shares his journey of rebuilding programs at both West Allis Central and Muskego by emphasizing belief, staff unity, and culture-driven growth.
Final Thoughts
This episode earns its place on the list because it refuses to sell easy answers. It shows what rebuilding demands — humility, consistency, and the discipline to lead the same way when progress stalls as when wins finally arrive. That standard of leadership explains why the conversation made our Best of 2025 list and why it continues to matter to any coach working through a high school football turnaround today.
From Conversation to Application: The Turnaround Companion AI
This episode, along with the rest of The Turnaround series, now drives the Coach & Coordinator AI – Turnaround Companion. The platform functions as an applied learning tool built only from:
When coaches launch the AI, it begins by asking about their role, level, situation, and constraints. From there, it customizes every response to fit their individual context.
The Turnaround Companion is an applied-learning tool built exclusively from:
- Turnaround Series transcripts
- Learning files and frameworks
- Patterns and principles shared by the coaches above
It does not use outside theories or generic advice.
Instead, it helps coaches:
- Diagnose where their program truly is in the turnaround process
- Identify their biggest barriers (culture, buy-in, staff, scheme, practice structure)
- Apply Turnaround principles directly to their level, roster, and constraints
- Build clear weekly and 90-day action plans
When you open the AI, it asks a few questions about your role, level, situation, and constraints, then tailors every response to your context.
Related:
The Turnaround- Making Football Cool- Brett Mertens, Head Coach, Montrose HS (CO)
Steve Pyne’s Formula for a Football Program Turnaround