With success comes rewards, and Mountain View's Dave Houle has just been given a king's ransom.
The man who has guided track, cross country and girls basketball teams to a national record 44 state championships in his 24 years of coaching for the Bruins has signed a three-year sponsorship contract with sports gear maker adidas.It is only the third sponsorship deal adidas has with a high school girls program coach and is the company's largest deal in the country for either a boys or girls coach.
In addition to a financial package for Houle, the contract includes shoes, uniforms and other athletic clothing for all athletes on teams that Houle coaches and full sponsorship of the camps that he holds during the summer.
"It's a good package, and it's an honor. I'm grateful that adidas took notice of (the championships)," said Houle. "I love it for the state of Utah and for girls basketball."
Nike, along with adidas, first approached Houle about a contract after a story about Houle's championship ways ran in USA Today last December. Negotiations with the companies continued until Houle finally signed the dotted line with adidas on Tuesday, turning down a last gasp effort Nike made last weekend.
Houle set a national record by coaching teams to five state titles in the 1997-98 school year and has recorded nearly 800 victories in girls basketball, girls and boys track, and girls and boys cross country. He just finished coaching the Bruins girls basketball team to its fourth straight state title, with guard Erin Thorn being named the school's third-straight Ms. Basketball recipient, the highest honor for any female player in the state.
Don't think that Houle will be coaching every sport at Mountain View now with the contract in hand. In fact, he might even be giving up some of his coaching duties at the end of the year.
Wanting to spend more time with his family and do other things, Houle said that he will be sitting down with his wife after the track season is over to discuss from which sport, if any, he will relinquish his head coaching duties.