After 39 years and 700 wins, Highland’s Hawkins says he is still learning
In a teaching and coaching career that has spanned 39 years and counting, few accomplishments are more unique than the one that occurred last Saturday for Highland Bulldogs baseball coach Joel Hawkins.
Hawkins picked up his 700th career victory as Highland’s coach when the Bulldogs notched a 7-3 home win over Moline at Glik Park.
Hawkins said he was not even aware that he had hit the 700-victory plateau until someone brought it to his attention earlier this week.
“I haven’t thought about this and didn’t know where this even came from until some folks brought it to the attention of me,” he said. “It’s OK if the attention goes away, but here’s the thing, these kids day by day are still going to be there and they show what we’ve poured into them and what we’ve been impacted by them. They are family (to us).”
Overall, the best part of last weekend’s achievement for Hawkins is being able to share the moment with his sons Abraham, a senior, and Blaise, a junior.
“I’ve got two boys on the team finally and that’s been a treat and it was just a treat to have them on there for that moment,” Hawkins said. “Neither one of them are great athletes or anything like that, but they like being around the guys too.”
A native of Union City, Michigan, Hawkins attended Central Michigan University after high school. He had no early designs on teaching in the lower Midwest when he graduated in 1985. He was looking toward the East Coast when a late spring job bulletin about a job at Highland caught his eye and piqued his interest.
“I had never heard of Highland until I got a job bulletin up there, so I came down and checked it out and ended up hanging here,” Hawkins said. “I never thought that was going to happen, but here I am 39 years later. The job’s been enjoyable and the kids we get to work with are a real treat and the folks here have been very supportive.”
Hawkins also is not one to get caught up in wins and losses as a coach. His focus has always been on the process of turning his players into productive young men well beyond high school.
“It’s about the kids, Hawkins said. “That’s the thing is the process and that process thing is a big deal because the only way to stay in something 39 or 40 years because the pull is to get out of something as soon as you can and that has never resonated here. But the thing is if you really like the process, the result is not something you really think about,” Hawkins said. It’s the kids that count and you end up learning a lot more from them than they ever get from you.”
After being an assistant coach from 1986 to 1991, Hawkins took over the Bulldogs varsity program in the spring of 1992. He led Highland to Class 3A state championships in 2007 and 2015.
His first varsity squad from 1992 is among one of Hawkins favorite groups of players.
“I look at that first group which featured Kevin Brown, Kane Freeman, Mike Naylor, and I think going back to that first team and going back to those seniors those are the kids that kind of stay in your brain forever,” Hawkins said.
One of the big things that has kept Hawkins at Highland for so long is its proximity to the St. Louis metro area while having a rural feel to the area.
“This is a good spot as we’re half an hour from a major league city and there’s a lot of nice things about Highland and it’s kind of rural and it’s not a suburb and yet it’s got that proximity,” Hawkins said. “A lot of folks here work in St. Louis and that still happens but we’ve got a lot of folks that own businesses, and it’s just a good place.”
Over 39 years, Hawkins has had roughly 283 players come through the program and he considers them all family.
Hawkins’ illustrious career also includes his enshrinement into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Hall Of Fame in 2016.
While admitting he is beginning to look closer at the end of his math teaching and coaching career at Highland this year and knows he will likely call it a career in the not-so-distant future, Hawkins is not quite ready to make that decision yet.
“We want them to understand the success and try to make them feel proud of what they’re a part of and as it goes over,” he said. “I hope a little of that (tradition) will go over and somebody will make it better and someone will.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 2:52 PM.