Troy Schueller: Definition of a life coach

Troy Schueller will not soon forget that afternoon on Jan. 27, 2001.

Not by a long shot.

It changed him as a wrestling coach at Kellogg High School.

As a husband to his wife Saprina.

And as the educator he’s become.

Schueller’s teaching career started fresh out of college from Lewis-Clark State College, splitting time between St. Maries and Kellogg Middle School.

Also immediately, he took over the wrestling program at Kellogg High.

His outlook changed while on the way to a wrestling tournament in St. Maries on that Saturday morning in January of 2001.

On that day, bus driver George Wild, suffered a heart attack, dying at the wheel. If not for the quick thinking of Schueller and wrestler Damon Rowe, there’s a good chance that it could have been a lot worse.

“We had a really talented team that particular year,” Schueller said. “When that accident happened, I was in the hospital for five days with a broken jaw, broken knee and broken ankle. The very first person on scene was my pregnant wife, and thoughts go through my mind if I really should be doing this. I sat down with that year’s juniors and told them I’m hanging it up and I can’t do this anymore.”

He continued until 2003, opting to step down after taking over as principal of Canyon Elementary in Cataldo.

“Once I had my degree in hand from Idaho, (then Kellogg superintendent) Greg Godwin moved me to Canyon Elementary,” Schueller said. “At the time, it was a lower performing school as deemed by the state of Idaho. Within two years, we went from a school in need of improvement to a school of excellence. I laugh about it all the time because I had the ability to hire three-quarters of my staff when I was out there. And there were four of us, and I got to hire three. It was still really neat to see the transformation.”

After a three-year stint at Kellogg High, two years as assistant principal/athletic director and one as principal, Schueller moved on to Coeur d’Alene High as the assistant principal for the past eight years before taking over as principal in the fall.

And Schueller hasn’t quite forgotten his wrestling roots, serving as an official at some matches in the area since stepping back from coaching.

After years of coaching high school wrestling, what led you to move to officiating?

“When I took over at Canyon, it was one of those things that I knew in order to do my job correctly, I couldn’t be the head coach as well. So I needed to step down from coaching wrestling, but knew I still wanted to be involved in wrestling. So I talked to Merrill Owens, and he got me hooked up with officiating. And it’s great. I’m still involved, but I’m still involved as much as I want to be. This year, I hardly officiated at all. I’m still licensed and certified to do it, but to do this job appropriately, I needed to take some time away.”

Do you miss coaching?

“I do. You definitely get to know the kids on a different level. That group of kids that I coached — Travis Berti, James Bush, Bryce Olberding, Kyle Drobny — that whole group of kids, they’re still in contact all the time. There wasn’t a ton of age difference between us when I was coaching them being fresh out of college and they were coming into high school. There wasn’t that big of an age difference, and once you get to be my age, what does it matter anyway?”

How do you relax during your down time?

“I like to spend time with my family. I golf. And my mom and dad own a cabin that we’ll go to that has no cellphone service. And that’s probably where I’m relaxed the most. You take a break from everything. There’s no cell service, and no Wi-Fi either.”

What’s a typical day like?

“I get to school around 5:30 in the morning. There’s a lot of meetings during the day. It just all depends. School is out at 2:30 p.m., but if I don’t have (after school) supervision (duties), I’m here until 4:30. If I do, I’m here — during basketball season — I’m here until 9:30 or 10 at night. With spring season, it’s a little different as games have to be completed by dark. So those are a little earlier nights. Even if I go home at 4 or 4:30, there’s still a lot of emails from home.”

What was your favorite memory from coaching?

“In January of 2001, with the whole bus wreck. I was going to step down that year. But the juniors on that team reminded me that I’d made a deal with them when they were eighth-graders that I’d stick with them until they graduated, so they had to stick with me until they graduated. They were very supportive, but they also reminded me of the deal, or pact, we’d made, and if you’re done, we’re done. And I didn’t want that for them because that’s not what’s best for that group of kids. Looking back, for that last year, and watching them get third-place at state the year after the bus wreck, with all the injuries we had as a team, it was quite special.”

And as a reward to those kids?

“They’d asked me earlier in the year what I’d do if they brought home a trophy from state. I told them I’d dye my hair purple. When they got third, I came back to school and Mr. Godwin was in my classroom that Monday morning, and I hadn’t dyed my hair. And he asked where the purple hair was after seeing a newspaper article. I told him I was waiting on clearance from him and he said, ‘if you don’t have it tomorrow, you’re going to get sent home.’”

What did Tim Bush — a Kellogg High graduate who went on to play college football at Montana and was tragically killed in a mining accident in June of 2010 — mean to you?

“Tim was a junior when I came to Kellogg. He was a hard-working kid. He put his heart and soul into everything he did. He went on to play football at the University of Montana, and my wife and I would go watch him play in Missoula. His mom and dad and us remain really good friends. It was a tragic event.”

Favorite memory of Tim?

“The coolest thing was when he was a senior (in high school) and his younger brother James was a sophomore. They both made it into the state high school wrestling finals, and that was really neat to watch. Watching Tim to play in the national championship game in 2001 (beating Furman 13-6). Watching him play on TV was really cool. His mom and dad were back there watching him play. Our wrestling team was at a tournament, and we were more concerned about watching the game on TV instead of the wrestling tournament. There was a time when Tim had moved back to Kellogg. He and I’d go out and golf and he’d tell me many, many stories about college football, college life and just being a part of that group.”

Favorite vacation spot?

“Maui.”

Hunting or fishing?

“Hunting. I love hunting a white tail.”

What do you love about where you live?

“I love the people. I love the beauty of North Idaho. I love the town, and love it all. Four-wheeling, fishing — we’ve got it all right here.”

Snapshot

Born and raised: born in St. Maries, graduate of St. Maries High.

Education: Received Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Lewis-Clark State in 1997; Master’s in Educational Leadership from University of Idaho in 2003.

Favorite book: Investigative, mystery books, or pleasure reading written by John Gresham.

Favorite movie: Top Gun

Favorite musical genre: Country

Quality you admire most in someone else: Honesty and integrity

Favorite quote: My grandpa always told me “You’ve got two ears and one mouth, and use them accordingly.”

Family: Wife Saprina, who teaches English at Canfield Middle School; children Ashley (21) and Hunter (15); great-grandchild Rayah (2).