HARTLAND — HARTLAND, Wis. — Former Arrowhead High School football coach Tom Taraska died in a car crash, TMJ4 News has learned.
Near the intersection of Rybeck Road and Woodfield Court is a tree with an Arrowhead High School football helmet. As well as flowers and school memorabilia, all to remember former head football coach, Tom Taraska.
"Guys like him come around once in a lifetime."
Tom Loper played quarterback for Taraska for three years in the late 80's. He says “Coach T” was like no other.
"For me, he was so much more than a coach. He's the kind of guy who walked into a room, maybe see a kid who didn't fit in. And he'd go right up to him, maybe refer to the kid or the student as ya know you're a superstar and put a smile on people’s faces. He had the tendency to light up a room,” Loper explains.
Coach Taraska not only lit up a room but brought people together for the love of football. He coached from 1982 to 2010.
"His vision was unparalleled to anybody else. It was really nice to see it come to fruition,” Loper says.
During his tenure, he accumulated 265 wins and only 96 losses. According to a post on Arrowhead’s Hall of Fame page, Taraska "currently holds the WIAA Division 1 State Football record for the most State championship game appearances with nine and the most Division 1 State Football playoff victories with 47."
“Unbelievable legacy, that can’t be matched. His name is on the stadium that we are standing in,” explains former football player Dan Truttschel.
Truttschel graduated in 1989. Like many, he says Coach Taraska set the standard high for what it means to be a football coach.
“He just had that touch, ya know that vibe, that drive. And he made everybody overachieve and made everybody believe that we are going to win,” explains former player and close friend, Jimbo Lavoi-Bergman.
Jimbo Lavoi-Bergman says Taraska was a "great friend and mentor.”
He also says, “there’s kids calling me all the time saying the best times of their life was with him."
Many players say he changed the football program at Arrowhead for the better.
“He was the driving force behind bringing a community together to achieve more as a school than we could have on our own. In the early 90s, the community bought into the vision of success and invested in the student-athletes, and it paid off. His passion for excellence left an everlasting mark at Arrowhead and all of Wisconsin high school football,” Quarterback for State Championship Team in 1993 & 1994, Fuzzy Marek says.
Taraska made 20 appearances in the WIAA Division 1 state football tournament, coached four championship teams (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997), and was the runner-up in five seasons as well (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2008).
The honors for Coach Taraska don't stop there.
"He was inducted into the 2004 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the 2008 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Athletic Hall of Fame, plus he’s the 2011 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award winner and the 2013 Russ Young Leadership and Achievement Award winner," Arrowhead's website says.
"In addition, Coach Taraska was named the 2005-2006 Who’s Who among America’s Teachers and the 2007 Associated Press State Football Coach of the Year. And, in 2009, Arrowhead High School named its football and track stadium “Taraska Stadium” in the coach’s honor."
Taraska not only coached football but he was a physical education teacher as well. He was known by almost everyone in the community.
"It didn't matter if you were a student or a player. If you were in athletics or not. He just wanted you to be the best you could be. He absolutely loved this school,” former student and family friend, Tami Marek-Loper, adds.
Marek-Loper says she will never forget his acts of kindness. He was almost like family to her. “I think just his positive energy and the fact that he was such a father figure to all of the boys he coached. Really was a huge tribute to what he did for the entire community and certainly for our school.”
Other former students say he was extremely welcoming and encouraging.
"Tom Taraska, wow the epitome of encouragement. From the very first time I met him as a freshman even though he was Phy Ed at north campus. He just was the, even though he was the football coach, he was the ultimate cheerleader,” former student, Karla Schultz, says.
Coach Tom Taraska leaves behind his wife, Susie and a community that will never forget him.
With tears in his eyes, Tom Loper ended the interview with, “Coach T forever baby.”
Funeral arrangements for Tom Taraska have not yet been set.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
