At the tender age of 13, Dave Houle was asked to be the coach of a little-league baseball team for 7 and 8-year-olds.
He's had coaching in his blood ever since.Today Houle is one of the most successful high school coaches in Utah. During the past 10 years his teams at Orem's Mountain View High have won 15 state championships in four different sports. His 16th state title may be just around the corner, as his girls basketball team is the odds-on favorite to win a third consecutive 4A title later this month.
"I consider myself the most blessed person on the face of the earth," said Houle. "I love what I'm doing, I've had great athletes to work with and things have just fallen into place. I know I'm not the only coach who could have led these kids to state titles. A lot of coaches could have done the same thing. I've just been lucky to be in the right place."
That's debatable. Certainly Mountain View has had its share of fine athletes in cross country, track and basketball over the years. But much of the credit for the Bruins' success has to go to their workaholic, knowledgable coach.
"Dave feels preparation is the key and he puts in a great deal of time studying the game, watching video tapes and scouting opponents," said Laura Romo, Houle's top assistant coach. "His commitment to coaching is something you don't find too often at the high school level."
In 10 years as the coach of Mountain Viw's boys' and girls' cross country teams, Houle (whose name rhymes with `pool') has won 10 state cross country titles (eight girls and two boys). His girls track teams have won three state championships in a row, while his team is going for a third basketball title in his fifth year as head coach. His cross country teams have been ranked in the Top 10 in the nation on several occasions by Harrier magazine, and his basketball team has spent time in USA Today's national Top 25.
Houle has studied basketball by watching practices and participating in clinics put on by some of the best hoop minds ever. He's learned at the hands of Dean Smith, Jerry Tarkanian, Bobby Knight and Terry Holland to name just a few.
But a pair of lesser-known mentors have had a far greater influence on Houle's coaching style - his father and former Mountain View boys coach Joel Gardner.
After graduating from Southern Utah State, Houle's first job was as the head football coach at Milford High. In his first-ever game, with his dad watching closely, his team beat Parowan.
"I thought I had to be like Bobby Knight to be a good coach, so I cussed and got on the players a lot," Houle said. "After the game I was pretty excited and I asked my dad what he thought, expecting that he'd tell me he was proud of me. Instead he said, `Son, I'm not proud of the way you acted out there. That's not the way to coach. You have 30 boys who look to you as an example, and you were a terrible one.' That's stayed with me for 15 years."
Now Houle has an agreement with his teams that if they hear him swear, even during a heated game, he has to buy milkshakes for all. "I'm Irish and I lose my temper, so it's not easy for me (not to cuss)," he says.
Gardner was the Bruins' boys coach whom Houle assisted for six years.
"I was young and he really took me under his wing. It was almost as if I were his son," Houle said of Gardner. "I used to take notes on everything he said during timeouts, so that when I became a head coach I would be ready to respond like he did. I learned so much from him that I really believe I owe almost all of my success to him."
As one might expect, Houle has had offers to be a head coach at the college level or for high school boys teams. While he doesn't rule out a career in the college ranks in the future, right now he's comfortable right where he's at.
"There's something about coaching at the high school level that's missing in college coaching," Houle said. "In college it almost becomes a job for the kids because they're playing for scholarships. In high school they play for fun and for the possibility of fulfilling dreams."
If high school athletes dream of state championship seasons, Houle has proven over the past 10 years, he's in the business of making dreams come true.