Pedersen’s game face hides rapport with West Branch players, staff

WEST BRANCH - Football players, banging helmets and pads against the walls, streamed down the hall emitting the unmistakable sounds of the end of a school day.

'Hi Butchie,” one shouted and grinned as he rolled out the door.

Now, this isn't the kind of salutation most football coaches approve of, let alone tolerate. But James 'Butch” Pedersen is not, regardless of what you might think by observing his sideline persona, one of those coaches.

Lack of respect?

'No it flatters me that they feel comfortable with us to be able to do that,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen, already a Hall of Famer, has coached football at West Branch for 33 seasons with a 279-68 record, tying him for 15th all-time in the state and eighth among active coaches. His teams have an incredible .804 winning percentage, among the very best in Iowa history, and have won three state titles and 19 conference/district titles. His team just completed its second 9-0 regular season in a row.

He is a West Branch icon, but outsiders may not have the whole picture.

'Butch loves to be around kids,” Butch's wife, Jenny Pedersen, said. 'Kids talk to him all the time.”

'He is

a character,” former longtime assistant Larry Rummells said. 'He's almost like one of the kids. He almost acts like a 16-year old kid. I just think the kids like to play for him. In that sense he makes it fun for them. That Butch can be like they are.”

But he still is a football coach. His defense is renowned for hard-hitting and feeds off gang tackling. He reveres the game, the toughness it requires and the spirit it engenders in its players. It's not for everyone. But if you stick it out there's a trade off.

'(We are considered) tough coaches, but we love our kids and would do anything for them, and our players know that,” said Mount Vernon Coach Lance Pedersen, Butch's son.

'Dad definitely coaches with a lot of discipline and high expectations, but his kids know they are part of the West Branch football family for the rest of their life and he'll do anything for them. It's not a four-year commitment. It's a lifetime commitment.”

And that's a big part of why the Bears stay successful. West Branch football is woven into the community fabric. It's why the Bears continually get good participation numbers despite the town's size.

Numbers are critical to maintaining consistent success in 1A football. Every player plays in every game. Every varsity player letters. Every kid has a stake.

Pedersen is proud of his staff, the vast majority of whom are former players who have come back to stoke the tradition. They view it as a sacred trust.

'He gives me all the freedom that I want,” offensive coordinator Jarod Tylee said. 'He does a good job of allowing all our assistant coaches to coach. He values our input and lets us have a little bit of ownership.”

Other volunteers have built a sophisticated website and run the Bearcast, which streams all the team's games.

Pedersen and his staff have readily adjusted to dramatic changes in football philosophies over the last three decades. But certain basics have remained.

'He does a really good job of getting the most out of every single kid that plays for him,” Tylee said. 'He's organized and motivational. He's gritty, tough-nosed and I feel that's how our team plays. We like to get after you and play with confidence and just be West Branch football players.”