2025 Northwest Herald Baseball Coach of the Year: McHenry’s Brian Rockweiler

Situated along the Baraboo River in south-central Wisconsin, the small city of Reedsburg is about 15 miles southwest of the Wisconsin Dells.

Brian Rockweiler grew up in Reedsburg, attended Carthage College and eventually found his way to McHenry High School as a physical education teacher and coach in 2001.

Since becoming the Warriors’ head baseball coach in 2007, his teams have provided plenty of thrills and family fun, although maybe not quite as much as the Dells has to offer.

This baseball season thrilled McHenry like none other. The Warriors won the Fox Valley Conference championship outright, beating a Prairie Ridge team on their heels twice in the final week of FVC play, soared past their school-record win total of 30 and advanced to state for only the second time in program history.

After leading his team to a 36-5-1 record and a runner-up finish in Class 4A (the best in program history), Rockweiler, who notched his 400th career win April 12, is the 2025 Northwest Herald Baseball Coach of the Year for the second time in four years, as voted on by the sports staff.

Cary-Grove’s Kyle Williams, who led the Trojans to the Class 3A state semifinals in his first season, and fellow first-year coach Eric Toussaint, whose Johnsburg Skyhawks improved their win total from last season by 18 games and won the Kishwaukee River Conference title, also were considered for the honor.

Rockweiler recently spoke with sports reporter Joe Aguilar about how he got his start in coaching, why he wears a batting helmet during games and what made his 2025 Warriors special.

After being a three-sport athlete in high school (Webb High Class of 1992), you chose to pitch and play baseball for Carthage College and head coach Augie Schmidt in Kenosha. That’s where you’re coaching career started, as a college student. How did it happen?

Rockweiler: I coached basically just a JV team there with another guy, and then I would help out in the varsity games wherever they needed me. I had played for two years, and I didn’t get a lot of playing time. My junior year, they were making cuts for the Florida trip, and Augie called me in and he said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be one of the last pitchers that goes, and if you don’t pitch much in Florida, you’re probably not going to pitch much during the year.’ He said, ‘I know you want to be a P.E. teacher and you want to coach. I have an offer for you. You’re still going to make the team, and you’re still going to go with us [to Florida], but you’re going to put in a lot of work for maybe five innings all year.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I get it.’

You’re one of the few high school coaches who wears a batting helmet while coaching in the third base coach’s box. When did that start?

Rockweiler: It was 2021. I got [diagnosed with] AFib [atrial fibrillation] during COVID. So I’m on blood thinners. The doctor was like, ‘You got to be very careful.’ He never told me I had to wear [a helmet] while I was coaching, but I was like, ‘I’m getting older, I’m not moving very fast, and I’ve gotten hit a couple of times with foul balls.’ So that was the start of it.

Have you ever been ejected from a baseball game?

Rockweiler: I have not. If you ask my family, they can’t believe it. There have times when I probably should have been ejected. I’ve been restricted to the dugout a couple of times, and I’ve been kicked out of a basketball game when I coached JV basketball, but never baseball.

You’ve had 15 20-win teams in 18 seasons, and you’ve never had a team win fewer than 18 games. What qualities made this team the best in school history?

Rockweiler: I think their work ethic and their belief. They never believed that they were out of a game during the season. They always had that mentality that we were going to win. We’ve always talked in the past that our goals are to win the conference, win 20 games, win a regional. ... But ever since 2022 [when the team advanced to state for the first time], we’ve [changed] the expectations. It’s not just about winning conference and winning 20 games. We’re going to try to win 30, and we’re going to win a regional and a sectional. Even last year’s team bought into that. They weren’t happy with just winning the regional. And then this year especially, they didn’t talk about anything but winning conference, winning 30 games. The senior class, there were not a whole lot of superstars besides [pitcher] Brandon [Shannon]. They were just a bunch of guys who were blue collared, worked hard and found a way to get it done.

When did “Work wins” became the motto for the program?

Rockweiler: I think about 2021 is when we started that. I guess when COVID hit, you’re sitting around, and we didn’t have much going on and you’re watching a ton of [baseball coaching] videos and listening to a ton of coaches talk on podcasts and whatever. I heard that [’Work wins’] somewhere, and it stuck, and we started using it. Our whole motto since I’ve been here has been McHenry is a blue-collared town, and we’re going to work hard, always.

Who’s taught you the most about baseball?

Rockweiler: I learned a ton when I was in college from Augie Schmidt. I had a high school coach who coached me in basketball, and he was the varsity basketball and varsity baseball coach [Dave “Doc” Koehler], and I learned a ton about coaching from that [experience]. And then I just watch a ton of stuff, watch a ton of videos, go to a ton of clinics, and just being around it for as long as I’ve been [you learn]. I don’t do things now the same as I did back in ‘07. “Badge” [assistant coach Zach Badgley] was a junior my first year, and he jokes all the time about how I was a lot harder back then than I am now. I think you learn the more you go along. And I’ve probably picked up a ton of stuff along the way from the coaches in our conference, as well.

What’s the next step in the development of freshman center fielder Carver Cohn and sophomore pitcher-third baseman Kaden Wasniewski, who are two of the most talented players in the state in their respective classes?

Rockweiler: I think just becoming leaders. I know Kaden didn’t have to [be a leader] much the last couple of years, but now [he and Carver] they’re the next guys. They’re going to have to be the leaders because we’re graduating a lot of guys. I think that, by far, is the next step. They don’t have to be vocal leaders but just lead by example, which I don’t think will be an issue for either one of them. They both work hard.

What’s next for star pitcher Brandon Shannon, who’s committed to the University of Louisville?

Rockweiler: I think he’ll get drafted [in July]. I guess it depends on you who you talk to, but I think it’s going to be pretty high. I think probably third round. I mean, who knows? Anything can happen, but I know there are a lot of people who like him. He’s one of those kids who works so hard. He’s humble, and he’s been an awesome kid to coach.