"This award recognizes other accomplishments outside Yellowjacket competition. The award honors career achievements in coaching. Individuals nominated for this award must display exceptional coaching abilities at any level and must be graduates of UW-Superior."
This is the criteria for the Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Achievement Award, named after the longtime coach, athletic director and educator at UW-Superior. It's a special award – one of the most prestigious bestowed on an individual by the university.
What could make the award even more special you ask? Perhaps the recipient being a one-time student-athlete who competed under the tutelage of the award's namesake.
Such is the case with Rod Daniels, who will be entering the UW-Superior Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2024.
"Mertz was not just a coach, he was a teacher of coaching. From him, I learned the importance of caring for the needs of players, both on and off the field, adequately preparing athletes to compete, and liking and valuing the act of coaching," Daniels said. "I knew he was always there for us, win or lose. I hope players could say the same about me."
Daniels grew up in Weyerhauser, Wis., about two hours southeast of Superior. As a young athlete, Daniels competed in football, basketball and baseball. It was a high school teacher and coach who shaped a young Daniels and helped get him started on his teaching and coaching career path, as well as point him to what was at the time called Wisconsin State University – Superior.
"Tom Susens was my math teacher and coach in the three sports I played. Upon his recommendation, I chose Superior because I wanted to be a teacher and a coach, just like him," Daniels said. "My decision to become a teacher and coach was reinforced at Superior during my early days of exposure to the expertise and philosophies of Mertz, Carl Vergamini, Dr. Lydia Thering and Dr. Bruce Fredricks. They coached and taught with great compassion and respect for all students and athletes."
Daniels enjoyed a decorated career on the gridiron for the Yellowjackets, claiming All-WSUC First Team honors as a guard and helping the Yellowjackets to a 7-1-1 mark in his final season of 1962, a team that has been inducted into the UW-Superior Athletic Hall of Fame. He graduated from Superior with a degree in math education and continued his studies on campus, completing his master's degree in education in 1967.
Beginning in 1964, Daniels taught and coached at Superior Central High School. In 1970, he moved south and began plying his trades in Bloomington, Minn., first at Penn Junior High (1970-76) and later at Jefferson High School (1976-2000).
In serving on coaching staffs of track and field, football, gymnastics, baseball and soccer for more than three decades, Daniels has seen more than his share of notable performances by individuals and teams over the year.
"As the assistant track and field coach at Bloomington Jefferson, in 1978 and 1980 I had two boys who set pole vault and long jump records that have stood for 45 years. As head coach of gymnastics at Bloomington Jefferson, our 1984 team won the Minnesota state championship," he said. "A former Superior basketball standout and a member of the UW-Superior Athletic Hall of Fame, Jack Evens, has been a lifetime partner and mentor in my coaching, teaching and refereeing days, both in Superior and also in Bloomington.
"And as a youth coach in Bloomington and as the Jefferson High School head baseball coach, I was fortunate to coach and work with my own sons."
At Bloomington Jefferson, Daniels guided the Jaguars' boy's gymnastics team to 10 straight conference championships as well as multiple top-three finishes in the state to go with his 1984 state title, which set the record for the highest team score in state history. His 1983 squad was honored as an All-American Gymnastics Team.
On the baseball diamond, Daniels helped the Jaguars win a pair of Lake Conference Championships and appearances in the section championship game.
In total, Daniels coached 96 different teams in five sports across 37 years, and he hoped his athletes took three things away after competing for him.
"Respect your opponents, prepare to do your best, and enjoy the game," he said.
In 2009 he was named Retired Coach of the Year by the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association, and in 2023 he was inducted into the Bloomington Jefferson Athletic Hall of Fame.
On July 20, Daniels will take his rightful place at UW-Superior when he receives the aforementioned Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Achievement Award.
"Receiving the Mertz Mortorelli Coaching Achievement Award is a high honor for me," Daniels said. "Much credit goes to all the coaching, teaching and encouragement I received from Mertz Mortorelli at UW-Superior."
