Josh Flug began his football career as a player on Babbitt’s high school roster and followed a trajectory to offensive coordinator for the Edina Hornets, helping lead one of Minnesota’s largest schools to victory last November at the Prep Bowl 6A Football Championships.
The Championships are the most competitive high school football tournament in Minnesota, with Division 6A featuring schools with the highest enrollments. Edina’s win represents the first football state championship for the combined high school, which formed after Edina East and West High Schools joined in 1981, and the first state victory for any Edina varsity football team since 1978.
Flug, who also teaches social studies in the district, said the win was “one of the greatest, outside of personal things like kids being born and weddings and family stuff, it’s one of the most gratifying feelings ever.”
Flug, who has served as a metro football coach for 16 years now, always knew he wanted to be a coach and teacher, drawing inspiration from former coaches and mentors in Babbitt, including former football head coach Brian Lamppa.
“Some of the lessons that he taught me not just about football, but about life and working hard and doing the right things [were] huge,” Flug says of Lamppa.
The lessons Flug gained from his time on the Babbitt football team continue to influence his coaching approach.
“(Lamppa’s) philosophy about being firm and fair, I mean, I try to enact that as a coach, trying to understand wherekidsarecomingfromand at the same time, push them to be better and have high expectations for them,” Flug said.
Flug has allowed his smalltown background to fuel his goals rather than deter him from pursuing them. He points to NFL players like Chad Green- way, who played nine-man football for a small high school team in South Dakota before his time with the Minnesota Vikings.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, and it’s about taking life lessons with you from the coaches that you have in high school, the people around you,” Flug said.
After attending college in the Fargo- Moorhead area, Flug launched his career by coaching football, basketball and baseball at Burnsville High School. Eventually, Flug’s career took him to Chisago Lakes, where he continued coaching before deciding to “get back in the main metro area.”
Flug says one benefit of leading a high school team in the metro region is the regional coaching network, which he was able to tap into after scoring a teaching job at Edina.
“You know people. You can reach out to people. People know your reputation,” said Flug, “I was able to get in contact with the head football coach in Edina four years ago when I got the teaching job. He was able to get me on his football staff, and after about a year of gaining his trust and getting to know each other, he entrusted me with the entire offense.”
To Flug, the door is open for student athletes from any high school, no matter how small, to take their sport to the next level. He advises youth to “put everything toward” their goals.
“It’s about finding opportunities. It’s about pursuing those opportunities, putting yourself out there and chasing your goals and dreams. That’s the greatest thing about teaching and coaching. You don’t have to have Division 1 genetics to do it. You can do it based on your brain and putting your best effort forward.”
