It was my first day at The Clarkston News in 2007 and Phil Custodio, the editor at the time, mentioned I should call the Clarkston High School Athletic Office and set up a day and time to meet with the athletic director, Dan Fife.
I called, and I met with Fife the next day. It was really a getting to know you and introduce myself.
The meeting is a blur. But mostly everything I learned about Coach Fife was from just being out in the community.
The first came from talking about my first days at The Clarkston News at a part-time job I had at the time. I mentioned to one of my coworkers there what I did in my first week since she was from Clarkston. I mentioned I met with Dan Fife. She smiled and said he had been so nice to her and her sister while they were at the high school.
I also learned a lot within that first year as I went to games, McGrath Basketball League in the winter and Fife camps in the summer.
Kids were drawn to him. It goes along with what Jeff Kosin, current CHS athletic director, has shared about Coach Fife.
“I look back to the impact on those individuals,” Kosin. “You look at McGrath and the gym would be packed with 150 kids. Every kid had either a nickname, or every kid he knew who they were -that’s impressive. It’s what we talk about when building relationships, and the things that makes Clarkston special are the relationships that our coaches have with the kids. It was not only a priority for him, it was something he definitely hung his hat on. I am sure the kids felt that, they knew that. For an elementary kid, a second or third grader, for them to have a nickname or coach to know them by name was a huge deal.”
You could tell the impact he had just by going to the basketball games. The stands would be packed with a blend of fans who watched him play when he was at Clarkston High School along with former players coming back to watch a game either because they were stopping by or came back to live in the Clarkston community. A good majority of those people I would run into and they would say, this is Coach Fife’s year for a state championship.
Finally it was, and it made it so sweet it was back-to-back state championships. Watching him accept the trophy both times and then celebrate the achievements with his family has been a few top highlights in my time with the newspaper.
Through the years, I got to know Fife from going out into the community and really after basketball games. He had a lot more to say after the Clarkston Boys Varsity Basketball team lost a game, then a win.
Fife had 703 wins and 170 losses when he retired from coaching in September 2018. He mentioned the losses stayed in his mind.
“I can’t stand the thought of having more than 100 losses. Those losses drive me crazy,” he shared.
Though he said the losses drove him crazy, he had a lot more to say after a loss as any coach does. Losses have a way of teaching you life lessons. Losses keep you humble, and Dan Fife was very humble. Being honored for coach of the year or being inducted into the hall of fame, he always shared it went back to the community and the players for him.
“When he did retire, him and I would talk weekly,” Kosin said. “He would ask how are the kids doing, not only my kids, but how are the basketball kids doing, how are the soccer kids doing, how are football kids doing, it didn’t matter the sport, he was still invested even though he was away from Clarkston. He would come back and visit and no matter what team it was, he had the upmost respect for the kids who were playing. Then, vice versa. The kids would go up to him and have conversations with him like they did play for him. He was a tremendous individual. I know the term GOAT gets used in certain circumstances, but when you look back at Coach Fife, he truly was a GOAT. There will never be another Coach Fife. There are people who follow his footsteps, but to have what he had, and lead the way he leads, to have those relationships, there will absolutely never be another Coach Fife. We will absolutely miss him tremendously.”
Rest in Peace, Dan Fife. It was an honor to know you. Thanks for playing ball with JD, and Oliver enjoys the game now.