GREEN BAY – Coaching football at Green Bay East is not always an easy task.
Levi Nelson appreciated every minute he got do it the past three years.
But his time with the Red Devils is over after Nelson stepped down Tuesday, one day after meeting with his players to inform them of his decision.
It would be easy to glance at East’s 2-23 record under Nelson and figure he moved on when it became apparent that more wins and playoff appearances probably aren’t coming anytime soon.
The decision had nothing to do with X’s and O’s or how he felt about his players or the administration.
He still loves all those things and people.
Nelson recently was informed his teaching position at East was being displaced and that future employment would come outside the building.
He was welcome to continue his coaching career at East, but after mulling it over, he didn’t think he could do right by his players without being in the same building as them every day.
It’s the reason the coach he replaced at East, Shaun Behrend, stepped down after two seasons in 2019. Behrend taught at Washington Middle School.
Nelson plans to remain in Green Bay, just not as a head coach right now. His wife, Lindsay, has a good job, their neighbors have become like family and he has made good friends at the school, including former East football coach Brian Nast.
“This is a tough conversation,” Nelson said. “I’ve had a lot of those over the last couple days. I don’t think this is the way anyone saw it going. I thought it would be pretty darn hard to be the head coach at this point in my life and not be in the school.
“The foundation of my LEAD (love, effort, attitude and discipline) philosophy starts with love, and I just always think of that quote, how do you spell love? T-I-M-E. To be the head coach not in the school, I just know how much time that takes to build those relationships. For me, I just felt it was the right thing to do for everyone.”
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Nelson did not make the decision lightly. After all, the Ohio native moved with his wife and their 1-year-old daughter — she now is 4 and the couple also has a 1-year-old son — to Green Bay in 2020 in part because of his love for the Green Bay Packers.
Getting the opportunity to coach at City Stadium, the former home of the Packers, was beyond a dream come true for him.
One of his best memories is standing on the historic field before his first game against Sheboygan North in March 2021 as the national anthem was played.
Or the time last summer when buses pulled up to the stadium and Packers players jumped out and started doing drills. He won’t forget when East played crosstown rival Green Bay West and Packers players were on the sideline throwing shirts to the crowd.
He knows that doesn’t happen everywhere.
“I’m so thankful to have a job,” Nelson said. “I’ve coached in some very small school districts where if there is not a job for you, now you don’t have a way to keep the lights on. That’s not the case here. I made it very clear to our boys, I don’t want rumors spreading around. I wasn’t asked to step down from coaching. I met with the athletic director, and I can’t say enough about how supportive (East AD) Steph Mathu has been to me and my family and just getting us here. She has always been so good for me, and after our first conversation, she said, ‘Hey, take some time and make sure you feel good with this decision.’
“It’s not like I was pressured or forced out of coaching. But I felt like my not being in the building, I didn’t feel I could do it.”
Nelson’s first season with the Red Devils was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They went 1-6 during the alternate spring season, with Nelson earning his first win with a 15-14 victory at West.
The Red Devils did not enjoy much success on the field the last two seasons.
They went 0-9 in 2021 and only scored a combined 34 points while being shut out five times. They went 1-8 in 2022 and scored 14 combined points while being blanked seven times and allowing 41 or more points in all but one game.
It can’t be just about wins and losses at East. Nelson takes full responsibility and won’t make excuses for not winning enough games, but he’s aware it’s not the true measure of success.
It’s why each practice was started with his LEAD teachings and how to apply them on the field.
The goal was to get players to perform to their best ability, and although the win column didn’t show it, he is happy to know that if they didn’t get there, they got darn close.
“People will ask me, ‘How did you guys do last year?’” Nelson said. “They are wanting me to say we were good, here is our win-loss record or we beat our rival. But I always answer, ‘We will let you know in 10 or 15 years.’ Coaches are like farmers. We just plant the seed. We water and we water, and sadly, we aren’t always there to see the fruit.
“I’m just so thankful for every assistant coach I worked with at East, who totally bought into the LEAD Kool-Aid. We were trying to win football games, but we were very cognizant of trying to use football to build character.”
Perhaps that’s why walking away is difficult. There was plenty left to give.
“I don’t feel like I have closure on a lot of the things we started,” Nelson said. “I sit back now and it’s out of my hands, and I pray that the next coach that comes in could pick up the baton on some of those things. It’s not about me, I just want to impact these kids in a positive way.
“If we were able to start some things and the next coach could carry them on, I’m the happiest guy ever.”