Granite City loses a coaching legend

One of the coaching legends in the Southwestern Conference and mentor to whose lives he touched through the sport of wrestling, William “Red” Schmitt died on Saturday.

The Granite City coach was 94.

“The metro east area lost a great man this weekend,’’ Granite City High School Athletic Director John Moad said. “Coach Schmitt was a coaching legend. He was a wrestling icon not only in southern Illinois. But he was an icon throughout the state.’’

A 1940 graduate of Alton High School, Schmitt coached at Granite City High School from 1950-85 where he helped turn the Warriors into one of the top progams in the nation. Under Schmitt’s coaching Granite City had a 605-82-5 record.

In his 34 years, Schmitt led Granite City to 18 conference titles and 26 sectional championships. The Warriors, who won the 1965 state championship under Schmitt, also placed in the top 10 at the state tournament 15 times. Schmitt also had 47 individual state place winners and coached four state champions.

George Nemeth won state championships in both 1957 and 1958. Bill Fuchs captured a state crown in 1967 and Bob Miller won the state title in 1969.

One of the thousands of young athletes Schmitt worked with over the years was former Warriors coach Mike Garland. The oldest of three Garlands to wrestle along younger brothers Steve and Greg, Mike Garland was an assistant coach under Schmitt before taking over the Warriors head coaching duties.

All three Garland brothers, spurred on by the lessons both on and off the wrestling mat by Schmitt, went on to become coaches.

“We were talking about this recently, trying to add up how many of us went on to become head coaches. There were several of us,’’ Mike Garland said. “Coach Schmitt was a great wrestling coach, but the lessons in life are what he passed on. I feel very thankful that I had a chance to wrestle under coach and then be on his coaching staff.

“I remember many times when I was the head coach at Granite City. There would be many times when I called coach for advice when different situations came up. He would never tell me what I should do, but he was always there to listen and for support. He was a great man. A man who taught life lessons that helped me become a better man.’’

Garland said Schmitt was a very competitive person who always did what was best for his athletes. And because of that, his athletes always gave everything they had when competing.

Schmitt’s success as a coach speaks for itself. Still one of the most successful and famous high school wrestling in the nation with over 1,400 dual match victories, Granite City athletes achieved through hard work, dedication and discipline, three elements in which Schmitt strongly believed.

“Coach Schmitt was the kind of coach that as an athlete you wanted to run through the wall for,’’ Garland said. “One of the most amazing was the number of dual matches his teams won. Back then, teams didn’t wrestle more than 12-15 dual matches a year. For him wo win as many as he did was an amazing number.

“Some of it had to do with tradition. Maybe a lot of it. Coach Schmitt built such a good program and was such a strong part of his athletes lives that as an athlete or a team, you didn’t want to be the one or the team t let him down. To let the program down.’’

Garland said Schmitt remained close to the Warriors program. The annual Granite City holiday tournament — held in December — was renamed in his honor a few years ago. The tournament is annually one of the best mid-season tournaments in the Midwest if not the nation.

“Coach Schmitt loved wrestling and loved coaching kids. The one thing he always told me was to never go outside the rules when working with kids. He believed in doing things the right way,’’ Garland said. “And what a coach. In all my years of being around him during match when after the first period, you flip to see what position you start the second period in, I never saw him make a bad choice... never.

“Coach Schmitt’s memory and his mind were wonderful. He could remember wrestlers and different matches that happened years and years ago. Coach Schmitt was the Dan Gable of high school wrestling. He will be missed and remembered forever.’’

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Granite City loses a coaching legend."