END OF AN ERA: Northeast track coaches retire together after 50 years

Jun. 2—With the end of May came the end of the 2022 track season. The end of the track season marked another end for the Northeast track program: the retirement of both their head coaches.

Both head boys coach Mike Mattis and girls head coach Pat Healy retired from their coaching positions after 50 years with the Rebels' programs. After walking into Northeast High School together in 1972, it only seems fitting they walk out together."They mean much more than people realize," Northeast senior Caleb Gruhn said. "They're a totem in a way. They've been here pretty much through the test of time and they've devoted their time to making people better people and athletes very much so."For Mike Mattis, it all just kind of lined up perfectly. Mattis came from Garner-Hayfield High School and then was an educator at Exira and the school was in the midst of reducing (it would close in 2010). He had been applying for jobs and hadn't heard back from any. He and his wife left with a couple of other teachers for a trip to Mexico."No students wanted to go, but three couples wanted to so we left for Mexico without hearing anything," Mattis said. "When we got back, I heard that an interview was lined up."That was just the start of his career in Goose Lake. He helped with junior high football, basketball and track and eventually, it was track where he really found his passion.But Mattis was no stranger to track. He had actually walked on at the University of Northern Iowa when he was in college after he was 'discovered' while prepping for intramural discus.Pat Healy came from Monmouth, Iowa before attending Wartburg College. He came to Goose Lake and coached girls' basketball for three decades and track for nearly five. Funnily enough, when he started it was just girls' basketball he wanted to do. It so happened that track came along with that position at his first job and track melded into something he truly loved."When you coach basketball, I started 6-on-6, and there were six girls that were maybe happy," Healy said. "Then it went to 5-on-5 so there were only five girls who were happy and there were always unhappy parents. Track, you don't have that problem. There's always someplace for everybody to run or compete."Mattis, too, has evolved into just a track lover. It's not just track meets you can find him at. He's there when cross country competes."I just like track and field," Mattis said. "It's the stop watch, it's the tape measure. And you get to meet a lot of people. I got experiences in college I would have never had, it was a lot of fun."Both have unique coaching styles and both are hard to miss, whether it's at the now-annual Healy-Mattis Relays or at the finish line at Drake Stadium. You can hear Coach Mattis as far as the back straight-away if he's yelling and Healy's smile is unmistakable even in a crowd.When it comes down to it, they have a specific mindset that makes them work well together. Unlike other programs, the girls and boys' track teams are intertwined in Goose Lake. That comes down to two coaches who are genuinely friends."We just feed off of each other," Coach Healy said. "We've always been good friends since the day we started so we talk about things, we bounce ideas off each other, our wives are good friends and we go out to eat."We both have the same attitude about what's going on as far as it's not our job to make great athletes, it's our job to make better human beings. The kids at Northeast ... their parents have built them up so by the time they're ready for us they already have the right attitude and are very open to our ideas."Their athletes know that it's a special bond between coaches."It's definitely unique," junior Paige Holst said. "We'll be at practice or a meet, and it's not segregated to boys coach boys and girls coach girls. Mattis is very helpful and he's not afraid to tell us or give us tips or yell. They're both amazing."The two ask simple things from their athletes and it's helped breed a culture of success."That's one of .,., I have three training rules," Coach Mattis said. "Are you committed to excellence? Are you willing to to do what you need to do and can we trust you? And do you care about us? That's turned out to be something that's worked out pretty well."It definitely has worked well. They've had immeasurable success, including multiple state champions between the two of them. Just this state meet, the Rebels brought home a total of six medals and two state titles.In their last season, track runners, throwers and jumpers repeatedly said the same things for the Rebels. They were proud to be from the program and they wanted to send their beloved coaches out the right way."Mattis has taught me a lot," junior Carter Jargo said. "He's taught me more than just running, he's taught me how to have the drive and the passion and has expanded my love for the sport. To the program, he runs us hard and it pays off.""I think he cares about every single runner," Jargo said. "He pushes everyone. He pushes us in practice really hard. His love for"Healy, personally, he's a really goofy, funny guy," Paige Holst said. "We love and have fun with him, he's just amazing."One thing both coaches have a problem with is naming athletes. They've had a slew of successful athletes come through the ranks of Northeast High School over the last 50 years, but that's not what it's about for them. Athletic success has never been a measure of their opinions of their kids. Some of their favorites, they say, aren't necessarily the ones who had any records or wins at all."I hate to start naming because we have people who put just as much effort as everyone else but don't get recognized quite the same way," Mattis said."I like that the kids care about the coaches, because we definitely care about them." Mattis said.