Mike Hansen ’00 selected as Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week

Mike Hansen ’00, the interim leader of Weyauwega-Fremont High School’s football team in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, was selected as the Green Bay Packers High School Coach of the Week Sept. 17.

During the 2025 high school football season, the Packers recognize one outstanding high school coach each week as their “Coach of the Week.” Each winner receives a $1,000 donation to their school’s football program from the Green Bay Packers and the National Football League (NFL) Foundation.

“The Green Bay Packers are a first-class organization, and our team receiving this honor is pretty awesome,” Hansen said. “The team has gotten some well-deserved recognition, and I’m excited for them. I’m also very proud of this honor because it is a direct reflection of the time, effort and dedication of our players and coaches.”

Before this season, Hansen served as an assistant football coach at Weyauwega-Fremont High School. He currently teaches science, engineering and tech ed and has stepped in as interim leader this season in the absence of Head Coach Colton Zimmerman, who is deployed with the U.S. National Guard. Under Hansen’s leadership, the team holds a record of 3-2 in the competitive Central Wisconsin Conference-Large (CWC-Large).

On Sept. 19, Hansen led the Weyauwega-Fremont Warhawks in their annual Salute to Service game, a tradition established by Zimmerman that honors all branches of the U.S. Military. Hansen said the athletes were eager to make Zimmerman proud.

As a coach, Hansen emphasizes the importance of motivating his athletes both on and off the field.

“One thing I constantly tell my players is they are competing against themselves; the other team just happens to be on the same field,” Hansen said. “If they can approach their life with an improvement-mindset, they will be successful athletes, students, workers and parents.”

Hansen said he knew he wanted to be a coach since he was in seventh grade, surrounded by terrific coaches and teachers — “heroes” — that cared about him and wanted him to succeed.

“Coaching and teaching are not my job, they are my vocation,” Hansen said. “This is what God put me on this planet to do. I am just trying to make a difference in kids’ lives the way my teachers and coaches made a difference for me. Some days are long and difficult, but as long as I stay focused on the kids, there is a lot of joy in coaching and teaching.”

Hansen and his team manage a roster of 37 players, with 22 of them participating in varsity games. His assistant staff consists of Trevor Wetzel, Ben Billington, Justin Meisenhelder, Don Lederhaus, Rick Bohringer and Max Meyerhofer.

At Ripon College, Hansen majored in physics and minored in educational studies while playing as a tight end for the football team. He credits several Ripon coaches for inspiring him, notably Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) Hall of Fame inductees Ron Ernst and Rick Coles.

“Ron Ernst was the head coach at Ripon when I played football,” Hansen said. “He always did a great job recruiting and developing talented players. He was also good at surrounding himself with talented coaches. My senior season, Coach Ernst hired Rick Coles as our offensive line coach. Coach Coles had a huge impact on me as a player and is probably the best ‘teaching’ coach I ever had.”

Coles said he’s very happy for the success Hansen has earned, but he’s not surprised.

“I could tell right away that he had something,” Coles said. “He had a great work ethic, but more importantly, he worked super hard on his technique and was incredibly coachable. Athletes who are very technique-conscious tend to make good coaches because they pay attention to detail. But knowing Mike, he cares more about his players as people than he does about the wins. I have no doubt that he is a tremendous role model for those young people, and that’s the most important part of coaching.”

Hansen also said the professors at Ripon College shaped his college experience.

“I had some great professors while I was at Ripon,” Hansen said. “As a physics major, I spent a lot of time with professors Mary Williams-Norton, Brad Halfpap and Steve Blau. They were always more than willing to help and very knowledgeable.”