Benton Harbor Michigan’s Incredible Coach, Miracle Football Season Featured on ESPN

A 74-year old coach who ought to be retired produces a winning season with kids who were supposed to lose. The inspiring story was featured May 22 on ESPN.

The segment is called “The Power of Sports” and it is a powerful story. If you love sports movies with their inspiring locker room speeches and against all odds victories, you will love the story of the Benton Harbor Tigers’ football season.

Spoiler alert: there’s not a fairy tale ending but you will feel good anyway.

The Tigers’ football team hadn’t had a winning season since 1989. 1989: when the Berlin Wall came down and a solitary protester stood up to tanks in Tiananmen Square. 1989: Genesis and Game Boy, Phil Collins and Garth Brooks.

Elliott Uzelac was coaching Navy in 1989, following a 7 year stint as the head coach of the Western Michigan University Broncos from 1975–1981. Following his Navy tenure, he had a few other assistant coaching jobs, then dropped to the high school ranks before retiring in 2010.

Five years later in 2015, Coach Uzelac picked up his whistle and came out of retirement to inspire these kids in a city that could use a good story.

The team not only had a winning season, they went on to the state playoffs for the first time in the school's history.

God placed him here...and look what happened.

-Ruth Harvey, Benton Harbor equipment manager

How did he do it? The way the great coaches do, he inspired the players, he made them believe in themselves. He cared about them.

We just needed that love, that motivation to keep us going.

-Unidentified player

The winning season was a boost for morale but it wasn't the only result Coach Uzelac was looking for.

I didn’t go there for any reason except for the kids. We wanted them to feel like they are important. We want them to feel like they are somebody in life too...that they’re good kids and they mean something.” he said, wiping tears from his eyes after the post season loss that ended the storied season.

-Elliot Uzelac, Benton Harbor Football Head Coach

Bonus Video: Eating dale Jr's Favorite Banana and Mayo Sandwich