San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has received much of the credit for his team's much-improved 8-1 record in his first year as an NFL head coach, but it turns out that Harbaugh is just taking a page out of Adam Bakken's book.
A first-year coach at
Waterford (Wis.), Bakken has turned around the fortunes of the school. He's taken a team that went 3-6 last year and has led it to the school's first state championship appearance with a school-record 12 wins and just one loss.
Waterford faces two-time defending state champion Waunakee in the
Division 2 final, scheduled for today at 1 p.m., with a 13-0 record.
Bakken, 34, spent three seasons as a defensive coordinator at Big Foot. Defense has sparked Waterford this year as the squad has given up more than 15 points just once on the season. During the playoffs, Waterford has outscored its opponents 146-17 in winning four straight to reach the championship game.
As for their only loss of the season, a 14-10 defeat at the hands of Wilmot, Waterford avenged the defeat with a 52-0 second-round playoff win.
Bakken says that his team's ability to focus and listen resulted in its turnaround.
"The biggest thing that has stood out is the team's willingness to put everything aside and really listen," Bakken told the Journal Sentinel. "It was a whole new defense, we changed some things on offense, and they bought into what I wanted to do."