Congratulations to veteran football, basketball, and lacrosse coach Mike Jolly, inducted into the National Coaches Hall of Fame in a ceremony held July 28, 2021, in Lincoln, NE.

Jolly, a former teacher and athletic director, as well as the “father of DLS lacrosse,” is no stranger to coaching honors. His seven Hall of Fame memberships include the CHSL and Macomb County, as well as distinguished service awards from both the coaching and athletic directors associations in Michigan. He’s been recognized as the U.S. Lacrosse National Man of the Year and received the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) “Peter Kohn” Award. 

Even Mt. Clemens High School, where Jolly spent only his senior year after a family move from Dearborn, is honoring him this fall. “I was a very average athlete at the time but had inspirational coaches who helped me become much better and later able to successfully compete at the collegiate (MSU) level,” Jolly said. “I wanted to become like them.”

But Jolly said the ceremony in Nebraska was a very unusual experience, and he appreciated the moment. 

He said, “It felt different. I felt peaceful and very comfortable. I wasn’t excited. After 62 years of coaching, I’ve reached a level of comfort in my work with kids.”

Jolly recalled the words of the author Kurt Vonnegut. “Vonnegut wrote, ‘you have to stop and take time to say if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is’.” 

Jolly continues to be involved with De La Salle Collegiate, supporting the athletic programs, steering the Veterans’ Wall Committee, and working with students every Wednesday afternoon at a local gun club where students learn various clay target shooting techniques. He is also a regular at all DLS events. 

The 2018 Christian Brothers’ Dinner Honoree has been married for 48 years. He and his wife Gay are the parents of seven sons, grandparents of 16, and great-grandparents of 13.