A Coach With More Than X’s and O’s

By Michael J. Winning ’74

The expectations growing up in the Mihalich family were very simple and humble – get the most that you can from your education, find a career that you will love, become the best you can be, and never forget there is nothing greater than the love and loyalty of family. And through all of these, live your faith.

who lives out the mission of Saint Vincent de Paul in providing selfless service to the poor and marginalized.

During his career, Joe won 408 games, won multiple coach of the year awards, and took his teams to 8 post-season tournaments. Joe accomplished this at two universities that were struggling to find their identity in Division 1 basketball. In sports parlance, he turned around two programs doing it in what he describes as “the right way.” Most significantly, Joe received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award in 2013, given to the coach who displays moral integrity on and off the court. As he was taught, Joe found something he loved to do, and he clearly became one of the best.

coached and mentored throughout his career. He has become close to many of those players who readily profess their love and admiration for a man who is so much more to them than a basketball coach. One of Joe’s favorite expressions is “it’s not about the X’s and the O’s, it’s about the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s.” He wanted to understand them, and care for them beyond their basketball life.

In 22 years as a head coach, Joe had a 100% graduation rate. He didn’t recruit just skilled basketball players. He recruited dedicated student-athletes, players who saw education and learning as one of the only true paths to success in life. Joe learned that from not only his parents but from his long association with the Christian Brothers and he passed it on to the athletes whose care he was entrusted. He also has an advanced degree and taught math at a couple of his coaching stops. In 2006, he received the Vincentian Award while at Niagara University, given to the person

In all the games Joe has coached, it has been rare not to see his dad or mom, his wife Mary, sons, siblings, nieces, nephews, or in-laws sitting behind the bench. The only criterion for their attendance was that the game had to be within a reasonable 8-hour drive. A 3-hour drive to a game was essentially around the corner. Joe’s dad had an expression that he often used about sharing in the highs and lows of a large family. He used to say, “if one of us gets cut, we all bleed,” a belief Joe has passed on to his sons, Joey, Matt, and Tony. Joe also extended that philosophy to the players he

Coach Mihalich, you have done all these extremely well. Congratulations on joining the La Salle College High School Hall of Fame.