BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Steve Himburg will be inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Lansing, March 7, to commemorate a lifetime of service.
“It’s quite an honor,” said Himburg, who retired from teaching special education at Clarkston Junior High School in June 2017 after teaching for 38 years. “Chris Combs and all the coaches I have had an opportunity to coach with, some were former players. It takes a whole team to be successful – players and coaches. I can’t say enough about the community and the people I work with, coached with. They are so supportive. Especially my family. My wife is my biggest supporter and it really helps when your closest friend in life supports you 100 percent.”
Himburg shared, “To be honest with you about a year ago they notified me Kurt Richardson nominated me. I didn’t think much of it happening. Then, I was really surprised when they let me know around Christmas time.”
He began teaching in Clarkston in 1971. Then, Himburg, his wife, Mary, and two sons, Rob and Chris, left the state and moved to San Diego, California. He coached there for three years and came back in 1984.

“Sometime you don’t appreciate where you live or your circumstances,” Steve said about coming back to Clarkston. “We went to San Diego to avoid the winters. I use a wheelchair. It got to be winters weren’t that much fun. It didn’t take long to realize the people here in Clarkston were the most important part. It’s only a couple months of snow and after awhile when you are teaching and in the building it doesn’t bother you so much. I am really glad we came back. Both boys graduated from Clarkston. Both played for Clarkston. It’s just a great community. It’s a great sports community.”
This fall will be his 36th year coaching in Clarkston and his 39th year coaching. He coached the freshman and JV football teams and is currently head coach for the eighth grade football team at the junior high and will be in his 26th season this fall.
Steve shared he comes from a coaching family and three of his uncles played college football. Steve also loved football and played the sport in high school and played for George Perles in high school. Perles went on to coach for Michigan State University.
“I played for some exceptionally good coaches,” he said.
While he was in San Diego, Mary encouraged him to coach.
“That’s how the whole thing started,” he said.
Steve added for him and coaches in Clarkston it’s not just about the football experience but more of a life experience for the kids.
“When you make that commitment to play football you make a commitment to do a lot of other things the right way, too, on and off the field – in the classroom, in the community,” he said. “In our program in the younger years, we emphasize how important it is to be successful in the classroom.”
He added his players have done well academically and he credits the older athletes with the success of continuing their academic and athletic careers in college.
“The scholarship offers for football are unbelievable,” he said. “We have kids at the military academies, Michigan State University, Purdue, a lot of good schools. It’s opened a lot of doors. They understand it’s more than just football – you’ve got to do well in the classroom. There’s been a lot of good role models showing the younger kids what they need to do.”
His favorite moments of coaching is watching the athletes who played for the eighth grade program being successful at higher levels.
“One of the best, exciting things is watching the kids who came through the eighth grade program play the championship games and watching them play for the state championship at Ford Field,” Steve said. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s so exciting for the kids and the community.”
He added watching and hearing about previous players do great things and be successful in the lives is also exciting.
“I have been lucky to have a number of former players come back and coach and that’s always fun. Some have been with me for a couple of years that’s exciting. There’s a lot of relationships built over the years where you have sons of previous players play for you that’s pretty rewarding. It’s that close relationship with the kids. It doesn’t end at the end of the season. It continues forever.”