Myron Glass: Remembering a coaching legend

In late October, Hall of Fame girls basketball coach Myron Glass died at the age of 78. The Rochester Lourdes coaching legend goes down as the second-winningest girls basketball coach ever in Minnesota (719 wins, 143 losses) and the winner of eight state championships. Lourdes went a perfect 8-for-8 in state-title games during his 31-year tenure.

Also a highly successful girls and boys cross country coach (six combined state championships), Glass will be celebrated beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, prior to the Lourdes girls basketball team’s home game with Visitation.

For this story, we asked a number of former players, an assistant coach, coaching rivals and a close friend to weigh in on what made Glass so special.

Myron loved coaching! Getting ready for the games with all the X’s and O’s, the scouting reports, the packed gyms, the bands playing and the whole atmosphere. But I think the thing Myron loved most about coaching was being around all the players and watching them work hard and develop into strong players both individually and as a team. He loved working with the young kids at camps in the summers and working with the high school kids during the season. . . I asked him once what he missed the most after he retired from coaching and he said, “The relationships: with the players, all the coaches, players from other schools, the officials and all those involved with the game.” He loved to talk to the people he had met over the years. Myron was a great coach! Not just because of the wins and losses, but because of who he was. At all times, Myron was a true student of the game and he loved the integrity of the game. Myron created an atmosphere of hard work, camaraderie, respect and enjoyment. One of the great strengths that Myron had was to have the girls believe in themselves and as a team, and that through their hard work and preparations, they would be successful.

It would be impossible to put into words the sorrow I feel at the passing of Myron Glass. Myron has been more than a coach to me, but a mentor and a father figure as well. I was very blessed to have won two consecutive state championships with a coach who believed not only in me, but the entire team, and the LHS basketball program. He inspired me to persevere during difficult times, and he showed me by example how to live life as a productive, responsible and caring adult. I have so much admiration and respect for him. Myron touched not only my life, but many lives and he will be forever in our hearts.

Coach (Minnesota state champion title in cross country, track and basketball), Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame, trailblazer for women’s sports for Lourdes, teacher, mentor, and cancer survivor — these are some of the words you can use to describe Myron Glass. But for me, he was so much more. He was a humble man and friend who only wanted the best for you and your family. Myron was an unbelievable coach when I played for him. He impacted so many young people’s lives in our community. If I could talk to him one more time, I would thank him for his passion and dedication. For all of us former players,we are the lucky ones — we were blessed to have been coached by the one and only “Mr. Glass.” May he rest in peace.

If you were to have met Mr. Glass while out and about in southeastern Minnesota, you would have had no idea he was one of the most successful high school coaches in state history. He probably would’ve been dressed in over-sized athletic pants, a T-shirt and well-worn tennis shoes. Looking closer at the T-shirt, you may have noticed it was from a Lourdes HS girls basketball championship, perhaps from a decade ago. He may have just climbed out of a pick-up truck, with a dog or some dog food or fishing gear in the back. He’d probably have given you a great one-liner about the weather or some other keen observation, usually ending with a question followed by your last name, wondering your thoughts on the topic. His appearance and demeanor would not at all suggest that he was an extremely detail-oriented high school coach and math teacher. . .I last spoke with Mr. Glass at the girls basketball Section 1AA tournament in March, 2022. He was perplexed as to why I was not wearing my purple and cheering for Lourdes. I explained that my children attend and play sports at Plainview-Elgin-Millville, thus my current allegiance must be to them. He just chuckled and shook his head. . .Mr. Glass dedicated his life to his chosen profession of education as coach and teacher at Lourdes HS. He cared deeply about the students and specifically his student-athletes. The girls basketball program Mr. Glass facilitated at Lourdes High School in the 1980s-2010s is truly unprecedented. Whereas I thought his preparation was standard for all high school coaches, I now understand how amazing his effort and expertise truly was — definitely an exception and not the norm. He prepared intensely for all games regardless of the opponent. I take that lesson of knowledge and thoroughness into all aspects of my life today. His teams were his world, not just during the season, but all year round. Honestly, I’m not sure any high school coach will ever be able to top the amount of time and care he gave to his players. I am grateful to have been a part of his legacy.

So many, many memories of Myron for both Sue (Paul’s wife) and me. I met him during my first tenure at the Post Bulletin in the mid-1970s when I started covering Lourdes sports. We moved to San Antonio but we never lost touch. In fact, he drove to San Antonio with a bunch of his high school cross country and basketball players. I came back to the Post Bulletin after 12 years in Texas and stayed with Myron before we moved into our house here. We lived only about three blocks apart in southeast Rochester. We started a NCAA basketball tournament pool which lasted for over 25 years. It grew to over 350 entries, but funny, all that time we never made any money. I mean never. In other words, Myron was a much better coach than someone picking basketball games. . .We watched Game Six of the 1991 World Series and turned up the volume on his TV so we could pretend we were there. It was fun watching basketball, football or baseball on TV with Myron. He was always coaching. Seemed like he would call plays before they happened. Uncanny. He would have made a great TV analyst.

Myron would always sit down with me when we were both scouting the same game. He’d sit there and share all of his knowledge about the game. I remember my first year of coaching at Kasson-Mantorville, I was 22-years-old and I was 2-0 to begin the season. I was thinking to myself that coaching girls basketball is easy. Then I came against Myron and he was going for something like his 500th win at Lourdes. We got destroyed and I then thought to myself, “OK, this is more what it’s all about.” I remember the first time my team beat Lourdes, I was emotional because you could almost never beat (Glass-coached teams). Myron’s playbook was so deep and you could never outsmart him. He always had a counter for everything you did. . .Myron was respected by the whole basketball community, from the parents, to the players, to the area coaches. His attention to detail and the discipline of his teams was so good.

Without question, Myron Glass elevated the play of all teams in all classes in southeast Minnesota. His footprints are even to this day all over the successful high school teams. His Lourdes teams were always fundamentally sound and played great team basketball. Myron’s teams didn’t run anything too sophisticated, but what they ran was precise and deadly. His teams took great care of the ball, forced teams into bad shots, were great defensive rebounders and made their free throws, a recipe for winning in any era. "Legend" and the "greatest of all time" are thrown around very loosely today, but without question Myron was both. If proof is needed, his 8-0 record in state title games is evidence, and many of those games were blowouts. Although I considered Myron a rival and lost a lot of sleep trying to find ways to beat him, I enjoyed getting to know the man and will miss our conversations when I would see him cheering on the Eagles in our annual game.