It was February of 1969 when Terry Michler thought he’d given up on his dream job. 

In 1965, Michler graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri, a private school with exacting standards. After graduating, he moved on to play college ball at Rockhurst College. Four years later, in that frosty February in 1969, Michler signed a professional contract with the Kansas City Spurs in the original NASL. A week later, CBC called. A longtime coach was leaving the boys soccer post. Would he take the gig?

Michler agonized over the decision. When he realized he was testing the waters as a player instead, he thought he might’ve lost the opportunity to coach at CBC forever.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Michler recalls. “Here’s my dream job that I wanted. Here’s the opportunity every young athlete would want, and I told CBC, ‘Sorry, I’m not available.’” 

Turns out Michler didn’t need to wait long for a second chance. Their hire hadn’t panned out, and Michler’s pro career only lasted two seasons. CBC called back, and Michler didn’t need to think this time. He was in. Smash cut to 43 years later, and Michler still hasn’t left his dream job.

Could he ever have predicted in 1972, when he took the gig, that he’d still be here nearly half a century later?

“Who would? That’s not something that you project,” Michler said. “As a coach you’re one game at a time, so you just try to go through every game as they come up and just hope you have enough to get through each game. I think as the years go on, you really find a way that works for you. You establish your way of doing it, you get the right cooperation and you’ve got a chance. “

Not only is Michler one of the longest actively tenured high school soccer coaches in the nation, but he’s also the winningest. From his start in 1972 through the 2013-14 high school season, Michler’s record was 884-230-103. That wins total is 88 better than No. 2 Miller Bugliari at Pingry School in New Jersey, and Bugliari’s had 12 more years at his position to amass wins.

Longevity is an obvious cause for Michler’s success, but there’s more at work. CBC was 25-4-3 in his first season, and they’ve never had a losing year in Michler’s 43 seasons. That tenure includes seven state championships, countless district championships and his coaching tree is sprawling out like a mighty oak. He’s pushed around 300 players on to college soccer, a percentage of whom stayed in the professional to coach. In that sense, Michler’s influence on the game will far outlive his presence in it.

“I think he’s a very perceptive individual,” said Greg Vitello, who retired earlier this year at St. Louis soccer powerhouse DeSmet Jesuit as the No. 3 winningest coach of all time at 763. “I think even in his time that he wasn’t playing, it was always a learning situation for him. His degree of intensity is one thing, but also just observation. He probably picked up on small things of the game that I think were going to be able to help him down the road in coaching.”

From the very beginning, Michler had a system. He’s run a three-player back line for more than 20 years, which far predated its return to prominence since the World Cup this summer. By running a 3-5-2/3-4-3 system for years, Michler’s stayed ahead of the game and racked up wins at a record pace. Having a glut of top players hasn’t hurt, either.

“I don’t think I’ve had too many underachieving teams,” Micher said. “That’s nice to say.”

The question now isn’t so much when someone will break Michler’s mounting wins record, but whether it’ll ever happen at all. Bugliari is active at Pingry, but he’s been coaching since 1960 and likely won’t stick around long enough to bridge the nearly 100-win gap before he retires. Paul Rose at Jesuit in California is the youngest in the top 10, but even he started in 1979, and he only just crested the 700-win plateau last year. He still has miles to go before catching Michler.

Whether Michler’s record holds up over time is up to posterity, but what’s he’s built over the last four decades-plus speaks for itself. The dean of American high school coaching marches into another season as energized as ever.

“Terry’s a lifer,” Vitello said. “I don’t think you’re going to find that too much anymore. Guys that stay in the business 45 years and more. People just don’t do that anymore. Given our social situation, I think more and more guys, they tend to retire early, find other things to do, things that are a little less stressful. To be a good coach requires a whole lot of time, and I’m not sure the new generation of coaches are willing to put in the time and the effort Terry did.”

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