By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Former Niles High School football player and graduate, Mike Coquillard, was recently inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) Hall of Fame.
Coquillard, who graduated high school 1964, was always very athletic and played football under the coaching of Ed Weede while at Niles. He continued playing football at the collegiate level for Central Michigan University and graduated from there in 1969. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a master's in health and physical education and recreation.
After graduating from CMU, Coquillard moved to Flushing, where he coached football at Flushing High School. After just two years, he moved to Standish, where he took a job teaching physical education and was named the head football coach at Standish-Sterling Central High School (SSC). He held that position for seven years and spent the rest of his time as an assistant coach and he also worked with the freshman team.
Coquillard was nominated by Paul Walderzak, head football coach of SSC.
On April 1, his year's of hard work and dedication payed off as Coquillard was honored at the University of Michigan, where he was officially inducted in the associations Hall of Fame.
What made this day even more special was the fact that Coquillard was able to share it with his family. "My mom came up from Niles and my wife and sons were there. They were able to share this with me,” Coquillard said.
Some of Coquillard's accomplishments throughout the years were being named Secondary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 1995 and, in 1999, he was named the Assistant Baseball Coach of the Year.
After his retirement in 2004, Coquillard moved to Traverse City, where he is now enjoying his time working at a local golf course. Though he admitted he hasn't been to Niles lately, he did find a little piece of his hometown in his new city.
When Coquillard isn't at the golf course or catching up with old acquaintances, he and his wife, Karen, enjoy visiting their two sons.
Nick lives in Manhattan, NY with his wife Elizabeth and their two children and Jake lives in Bay City with his wife, Jill, and their two children. There, Jake is following in his father's footsteps and is an assistant football and baseball coach and a teacher at Essexville-Garber High School.
Coquillard has other family members in Niles, Mishawaka and South Bend as well.
Coquillard's nephew, Cory, is a 2005 graduate of Niles High School and is now playing baseball at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo.
Talking back on his past, Coquillard said if he had a chance to do everything over again, he wouldn't change a thing.