Coach Michael Nolden is passionate about the sport he coaches, and Belleville knows they are lucky to have him. Nolden’s coaching ties to Belleville stem back to his college days in 2016 when a former Belleville coach looked at his team roster and noticed Nolden was also from Belleville. Michael was then a senior at Beloit College and through Belleville channels, Tony Schmit reached out to Nolden to discuss what plans he had upon graduation. It was then that things began to click for Nolden and Belleville’s football coaching needs. Upon graduation, Schmit arranged for an interview with Nolden.
“He set up an interview for me with the head coach at the time and the rest is history. I started as an assistant for Belleville right away in the fall of 2017,” said Nolden.
Nolden’s passion for the sport cannot be underscored enough as he fell in love with the game as a child.
“Football has really been my whole life. I played every year from 4th grade all the way through 5 years of college,” notes Coach Nolden.
Football is what Nolden has chosen to center his life around and he feels strongly about what it has done for him. Playing the sport has served up valuable life lessons and allowed him to build strong friendships over a lifetime.
“I’m still very close to my high school teammates and had [football] friends from college that were a part of my wedding last year. The staff we have at Belleville right now is very tight and we all hang out outside of football.”
In this way, football is a metaphor for life for Nolden and he seeks to teach his Belleville players it can be the same for them if they learn to play the game right! He offers the boys he coaches a strong message that he wants them to understand:
“The game of football is going to provide so many positive things in life, but you have to take advantage of the opportunity in the short time that the opportunity exists. High school sports are something you only get to do for four years, don’t leave football with any regrets because you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime in the lifetime of that opportunity,” Nolden said.
As for his role as Head Coach for Belleville’s Football program, Nolden holds the same goals for his athletes every year — to win a conference championship and make the playoffs. The 2023-24 season has been a tougher one, but his players still managed to make the playoffs. Nolden is extremely proud of this team this season for battling through and having the mental strength to not let the fumbles and muffs of the season stop them from moving the ball down the field. In the end for Nolden, the goal is and always is to come away making a few more positive memories for the team and for his graduating seniors.
— Marie Perry is the Communications Director for the School District of Belleville. She can be reached at perrym@belleville.k12.wi.us.
