He’s got no track meets to start. No fields to prepare for upcoming events. No manual labor projects that need to be taken care of. No concession stand to stock or staff. Nothing that needs to be addressed for his duties as the Heart of Iowa Conference commissioner. In two hours, he’s going to hop into his vehicle and head north to purchase a new truck in Minnesota, perhaps as an early retirement present to himself.

Coy should be happy, right? He doesn’t have to juggle 15 tasks, not at the moment anyway, and yet he’s uncomfortable. Why? Because he’s been asked to talk about himself, a this is your life-type interview and it makes him uneasy.

He’s a worker, always has been and always will be. The irrigation system that keeps the South Hamilton football field looking sharp

year-round — he helped to install that with his own bare hands. Every South Hamilton athletic event that goes off without a hitch — that’s him. He’s the guy behind the scenes pulling the strings and that’s the way he likes it.

South Hamilton athletic director Todd Coy sits at his desk inside his office in late April. After 34 years with the district, including the last 26 as the AD, Coy will retire at the end of this month. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

That’s why his colleagues adore him. And it’s part of the reason why they’ll miss him too — so much more than they probably even realize — once he officially retires from education at the end of May.

“He does so much for the school behind the scenes and he never, ever wants recognition for it,” Dan Brodie, who will take over for Coy as South Hamilton’s athletic director on June 1, said. “I don’t think South Hamilton understands how much it’s losing.”

Why has Coy done it for more than 21⁄2 decades? To use a time-honored cliche: For the love of the game.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it for 26 years if I didn’t enjoy all of the challenges that came with it,” Coy, who will turn 58 on July 4, said. “To be able to put the time in and see how the football field looks on our first game day, and the excitement the kids have playing on a field that looks like that, I think that’s reward enough.”

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DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Todd grew up in the smallish town of Mosinee, Wisconsin, the son of a legendary high school football coach. His dad, Bob, won two state championships and compiled a 182-29 record at Mosinee, including a 38-game win streak, in 22 seasons in charge of the program.

Bob was a Simpson College graduate. So was Todd’s mom, as were his grandparents and his brother. So, of course, that’s how Todd found his way to Iowa; he and his wife, Missy, and their three boys Ben, Casey and Colton are all Simpson graduates as well.

Todd admits that small-town atmosphere that he grew up in is probably what has kept him at South Hamilton for 34 years. He was hired as an elementary teacher in 1988 and has been there ever since, serving in a number of roles throughout his time.

“I was born and raised in a small town, went to the same school and didn’t move around when I was young,” Todd said. “I had other opportunities administratively, but I liked this job enough that I didn’t need to look for anything else.”

Although he spent his early years at South Hamilton teaching six classes of language arts, Todd eventually transitioned into a Physical Education role. He’s been the school’s head wrestling coach and the head football coach, but his role as AD is how he’s most impacted the school and community.

And it’s a job he would have loved to never take.

Mike Penning was Todd’s mentor, but when Penning was diagnosed with cancer and eventually passed away in 1996, the school needed someone to fill his gigantic shoes. They found the right man in Todd.

“That was not an easy time and it was a huge loss,” Todd said of Penning’s passing. “Knowing that I was helping Mike made that an easier transition.”

Todd wore multiple hats as a teacher, AD and head football coach for 17 years until 2013 when he gave up his coaching duties. His football teams reached the playoffs in 2003 and 2007, but eventually it all became too much.

To be the kind of AD he wanted to be, he knew something had to give.

“The football was difficult to give up, but it was time to give it up,” Todd said. “The things I wanted to do as an AD, it became tough to be a head football coach.”

Todd’s number of years on the sideline and in the wrestling room helped to mold him into a coach’s AD. He considers it the most important part of his job and by the number of coaches that roam in and out of his office on a typical afternoon, for no other reason than to chat, is proof of the admiration they hold for their leader.

“My No. 1 goal as an athletic director was to take as much off my coaches’ plates as possible so they could do what they needed to be successful,” Todd said. “I also wanted to build relationships with kids and create a fantastic atmosphere and experience for our athletes.”

Checks all across the board, Todd.

Need further proof? Just ask his colleagues.

“Having been a head coach, that made him so much stronger as an AD, knowing what coaches needed and what they didn’t need at times,” Corey Klemp, a fellow former head wrestling and football coach at South Hamilton, said. “I can personally speak that he was always there for me, professionally and as a great friend as well.”

“He was super supportive,” Kyle Galetich, the Hawks’ former head baseball coach, said of Todd. “He let you run your program, but if you needed help or advice, he was always there.”

“Having him as somebody that showed you the right way to do things has allowed me to grow as a coach and individual,” Brodie said. “Todd’s ultimate gift is how he approaches the education of kids and the way he approaches opportunities for kids. He wants to make their experiences the best and it rubs off on people. I know it definitely did on me.”

Coy did it simply because he wanted South Hamilton to be great and it has been. But he says it’s now time for the athletics department to start a new chapter.

“Truthfully, to be in this position for 26 years, I’m lucky. But it’s time for new blood and I think Dan will be energetic and great,” Todd said. “If he ever needs anything, I’m only a phone call away, but at the same time, Dan needs to make this position his position.”

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Todd laughs as he looks around his office. It’s clean for maybe the first time since he moved into it, a present to Brodie who will occupy it soon enough.

Packing up and preparing to leave it for the final time allowed him a chance to reminisce. From watching Cameron Olson become the first and only South Hamilton wrestler to win a state title, to the run the boys’ basketball team went on with three consecutive trips to the state tournament a few years ago, to so many others that make him grin.

But it’s about more than wins and losses. So, so much more. It’s the conversations with today’s kids and those with the now adults that once played for him or learned under him that stop by when they’re back in town.

“The highlights are the relationships you build with coaches and athletes,” Todd said. “To bump into an athlete you haven’t seen in 10 years and be able to reminisce is a lot of fun. I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished here.

“My dad was highly motivated by wins and losses, so I had to find other ways for success because there was no way I was going to attain the success level that he attained. As AD, seeing my coaches and our teams be successful, I get as much enjoyment out of that as I did winning football games or winning wrestling meets.”

Respect. Admiration. Love. Coy has them all from his colleagues, from his students past and present, and from the South Hamilton community.

It’s hard to envision someone more successful than that.