Behrend ready to guide Green Bay East

GREEN BAY – Shaun Behrend got in his car and drove without a plan.

He ended up in Gainesville, Fla., where he walked-on to the Santa Fe College baseball team as a right-handed pitcher.

Behrend had never even played baseball – or any other sport for that matter – when he was a student just trying to get by at Oconomowoc High School.

“I was flying by the seat of my pants because I had no guidance,” he said.

Behrend is looking to provide the latter as the new head football coach at Green Bay East.

The 39-year-old coach had other opportunities after stepping down as the head coach at Grafton in order to seek a spot to help shorten the work commute to Appleton for his wife.

But East, a program that hasn’t been to the WIAA playoffs since 2007, appealed to him the most.

“That’s just where I go,” Behrend said. “I thrive in those environments. These kids need a chance. I understand the dynamics of East compared to some other schools in the district. But that was never a big deal to me because I understand the program.”

To say that Behrend is passionate about helping young people would be an understatement.

After all, how many teachers or coaches go to the lengths of becoming a guardian for a teenager in their school district?

Behrend has, having done so when he was teaching and coaching at Edgewater High School in Florida.

“We just took him in,” Behrend said. “We had no clue what we were getting into. We just didn’t want him toiling through the system.”

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Behrend’s path to coaching football is far from the traditional. He didn’t play the sport until he transferred to Lakeland College and was encouraged to give it a try.

The 1997 Oconomowoc graduate has coached high school football in Florida, Indiana and Wisconsin, spending time with Milwaukee Riverside, Cedar Grove-Belgium and Grafton the last two years.

Behrend will be a special education teacher at Washington Middle School in addition to coaching at East, which had its head coaching position open up after Brian Nast stepped down following 11 years in the role.

“I never had a chance in high school,” Behrend said. “It really upset me. I struggled academically. I struggled with getting in and out of trouble. There was not one person that when I went to high school that grabbed me and set me straight.

“I shot up my sophomore year to 6-4. I could dunk a basketball, but I didn’t play one high school sport ever. I ended up playing in college, but no one ever grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, Shaun. Why don’t you stop being a knucklehead?’”

Behrend is excited about the talent the Red Devils possess.

East has over 15 seniors, including quarterback Koda Kinjerski.

The athleticism of seniors Hayden Ostertag, Jeremiah Flowers and Carter Writt figures to fit well into Behrend’s offense.

“We want to play fast,” Behrend said. “We have good athletes, so I want to get the ball in their hands. We’re not going to line up and pound the ball on nine-man boxes. We’re not that strong.”

Ultimately, Behrend wants East’s biggest strength to be its unity.

“I want them to believe in themselves,” Behrend said. “We have a lot of guys who don’t have a lot of confidence in themselves. Football is the easy thing. It’s the love for your teammates, it’s the unselfishness. It’s the caring for each other. That’s what we need here at Green Bay East.”

Green Bay East at a glance

Coach: Shaun Behrend, 1st season

Last year: 1-8

All-conference players to replace:

Kaleb Timm, WR, 2nd team

Michael Lampshire, DB, HM

All conference players returning:

Eli Sergott, sr., OL, HM

2018 Schedule

Aug. 17 at Seymour

Aug. 24 at Appleton Xavier

Aug. 31 Shawano

Sept. 7 at New London

Sept. 14 G.B. West

Sept. 21 Waupaca

Sept. 28 at Little Chute (NC)

Oct. 5 Menasha

Oct. 12 at West De Pere