Former coach Les Klein had a field day Friday, with Portage High School naming the football field in his honor and former athletes praising him.
His name will be sewn into the artificial turf, a permanent reminder of his legacy at the school, Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said.
“We honor a man who showed generations what it means to be dedicated, humble and resilient. From this day forward, every day each play on this field will carry a piece of his legacy,” Athletic Director Brett St. Germain said at halftime of Friday night’s football game against archrival Valparaiso High School.
He told of Klein’s record at PHS. “His teams earned 156 wins, three conference titles, four sectionals, one regional and his career is highlighted by the 1977 AAA class state championship.”
“But Coach Klein’s true legacy goes beyond wins and losses. He mentored young men into leaders, building a program grounded in discipline, integrity and heart. He didn’t just build teams; he built a family.”
Klein talked about his career as he watched the first quarter of Friday’s game.
Growing up, he enjoyed numerous sports. “If it involved a ball, I wanted to play it,” Klein said.
At Morocco High School, he played on the small school’s football team. In 1955, the school won conference championships for both six-man and 11-man teams. He thinks that’s an accomplishment worth inclusion in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. Klein, who played on both of those teams that year, is already a Hall of Fame honoree.
At St. Joseph College, he was a running back. “There was a time I led the nation in yards per carry,” Klein said. “I had a tremendous offensive line in front of me,” he said.
“I was a small college All-American,” he said. He was also a charter member of the St. Joseph’s College Hall of Fame.
As a coach, as was as an athlete, “I always had successful people surrounding me,” Klein said.
That includes Tom Milakovic, of Traverse City, Michigan, who traveled to Portage Friday to be at Klein’s side in the end zone while watching the game. Milakovic was recruited to be Klein’s assistant coach. “It was 18 years of dedication to working for a program that was inspired by a talented individual,” Milakovic said.
Klein was Portage’s coach from 1970 to 1988. Prior to that, he coached four seasons each at North Judson and Lowell. In 1975 and 1981, he was staff coach for the North-South All-Star Game.
At North Judson, Lowell and Portage, Klein turned around the football programs.
He was lured to Portage by Morrie Goodnight, the basketball coach, with whom Klein played in Morocco. “We were teammates together, then coached against each other, then coached with each other,” Klein said. Goodknight became Klein’s defensive coordinator.
At the time of his induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1990, Klein was among the top 20 in all-time career coaching victories with a total head coaching record of 156-110-3.
Klein also served as assistant athletic director at Portage, working alongside AD Larry Casbon, for whom the PHS baseball and softball fields are now named.
He credited his wife, Trudy, for raising their daughters. “She was my greatest support, no question about it.”
“He was busy 24/7,” Trudy said.
Daughter Michelle Bellar, of Hebron, acknowledged her dad was gone a lot of the time but enjoyed her childhood. “Overall, it was a great experience,” she said.
Almost everyone in Portage knew the Klein name, she said. That was even more true at the high school, where if she got in trouble, he would know right away.
Bellar was 11 years old when PHS won the state championship in 1977. She attended the games. “It became a social event,” she said.
Many of Klein’s former players attended a meet-and-greet before Friday’s game.
Alec Mackenzie, of Valparaiso, brought a shoe with him to illustrate his memories.
Mackenzie, who served as inside linebacker half the season and left guard the rest of the time, put the shoe to good use in the 1977 season. As with any sports fan, he could recite scores easily.
During the regular season, Portage lost to Merrillville 35-7. Portage got revenge in the playoffs.
“In the playoffs, our defense had the best game of the year,” Mackenzie said, keeping Merrillville scoreless.
“I was the placekicker,” he said. With 19 seconds left, both teams scoreless, “I kicked a field goal to win the game.”
Portage beat Evansville 35-14 in the state championship game. Evansville was undefeated until that final game and ranked No. 1.
Klein remembers it well. “I was elated. I felt very comfortable going into the game with the team we had, with our game plan and our coaching staff.” Evansville and its coach underestimated Portage, Klein said.
That was quite a year for Portage. At the start of the season, Klein was unhappy when half the team didn’t have their physicals completed by the first day of practice, Mackenzie said. “We went from not having our act together to winning the state championship.”
Mark Evans, of Winnetka, Illinois, was quarterback that year. “It was a great season. We started out a little slow,” he said, verifying the story about the physicals.
When Portage won the state championship, “they stormed the field like an SEC game,” he said.
Evans went to Indiana Central College, now the University of Indianapolis, with a football scholarship. But Klein’s influence on Evans’ life went well beyond football. “He built a man out of you,” he said.
Portage Township School Board member Jeff Smith and board attorney Ken Elwood both played for Klein, Elwood in 1987, being named Mr. Football, and Smith named MVP in 1988.
“Dad passed away,” Smith said. Klein “was like a father figure to me growing up,” Smith said.
“You never wanted to disappoint him,” Elwood said.
“He was a disciplinarian, but in a good way,” said Randy Tumblin, of Bourbonnais, Illinois.
“I never heard one of my coaches swear,” he said. “He inspired you. He wanted you to do better.”
Tumblin, who graduated in 1975, said the 1974 team was the first to go to the state playoffs and the No. 1 defense in PHS history, with a 9-1 record. “I was his second player to play in the all-star game,” he said.
Kelvin Riley, of Chesterton, was the first.
Riley, of Chesterton, was quarterback during the 1971-1973 seasons. Greg Knight, of Chillicothe, Ohio, was on the front line.
“He wasn’t real demanding, but you wanted to work hard for him,” Knight said.
“Portage is a blue-collar town then. This was really blue-collar then, for sure,” Knight said. “You came to play.”
Mike Wildermuth, of Redondo Beach, California, was on the team with Tumblin. Wildermuth was co-captain and MVP.
“Everybody revered Coach. You did not want to disappoint him. We had coaches that hollered a lot, but not Coach Klein,” he said.
When Wildermuth’s father died, Klein attended the funeral. For a couple of guys whose father had died, Klein was a surrogate, he said.
Klein taught his players to be gentlemen and built character, Evans said.
“Thank Coach for changing my life,” said Tim Cole, of Dallas, who played in the 1973 and 1974 seasons. Cole earned a business degree at tiny Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa.
“We respect him and want to be here for him,” Tumblin said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
