Coach Applebee Takes Place Among the Greats

By Todd Habiger

Joel Applebee didn’t know anything about Mill Valley when he applied to be the school’s head football coach in 2010. Not even the location.

He could be forgiven. In its 10 year history, Mill Valley had failed to make an impression in the world of sports. The school’s state championship count was stuck at zero. 

One could make the case that Applebee put Mill Valley on the Kansas high school athletics map. Five years after accepting the job as head football coach, Mill Valley won its first state title in any sport in 2015. He followed it up with another title in 2016. And then the Jaguars went on an unprecedented run of five straight state championships from 2019 to 2023.

That’s enough to get anyone’s attention. It certainly got the attention of the Kansas City area coaches. 

On June 5 Applebee will be inducted into the Greater KC Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame at halftime of the GCKFCA All Star Game that will be played at Jaguar Stadium.

Longtime assistant coach Mike Strack wasn’t surprised by the announcement that Applebee was selected to the GKCFCA Hall of Fame.

“It won’t be the last [Hall of Fame] he goes into,” Strack said. “When it comes to high school football coaches in Kansas, there have been lots of great coaches and he’s on par with all of them.”

Not bad for a kid from the Great Plains of Russell, Kansas. 

Applebee has fond memories of his childhood — but sports stands out.

“Life was very simple,” Applebee said. “The one thing we always did growing up was we always went out and played and competed in everything, whether it was kickball, basketball, baseball. I remember doing that all the time growing up — just being outside.”

A natural athlete, Applebee played football, basketball, tennis and baseball in high school. Football was obviously his favorite sport, though he admits to really loving baseball too. 

Unfortunately, coaching stability wasn’t really a strong point at Russell High School. Applebee played under three head football coaches, three head basketball coaches and two head baseball coaches.

“Russell’s always had a hard time keeping coaches. I don’t know what it is,” he said.

Applebee went to K-State for college and earned a degree in business education. 

His first job was as a business teacher at Junction City High School. He also coached football under Junction City legend Randall Zimmerman — two years as a running back coach and two years as defensive coordinator.

“I learned a lot from him,” Applebee said. “Not only about football but in the weight room, how to be a coach and how to set standards for yourself and the kids.”

Applebee left Junction City after four years and went back to school to get his physical education certification and Master’s degree at Fort Hays University. He worked as a graduate assistant in the education department and continued coaching, landing a job as an assistant in his hometown.

At Russell he was the defensive coordinator for two years under a man named Joel Thaemert, who will be very important to this story later.

Upon completing his Master’s degree, Applebee took a job at Derby under his cousin Brandon Clark who had just been hired as head coach.

Clark and Applebee were tight. They were as close as brothers and were roommates for two years at K-State. They often talked about coaching together. 

Though the two never captured a state championship together, the seeds for the Derby dynasty were sown during their four years together. Derby has won six state championships since 2013 and has been to the title game nine times in that span.

In 2010 Mill Valley’s head football coaching position opened up and Applebee’s old Russell coach Joel Thaemert called him up and encouraged him to take a hard look at the job.

“I honestly didn’t know Mill Valley was a school at that point in time,” Applebee said. 

Seeking more information on this unknown school, Applebee reached out to Randall Zimmerman, his mentor at Junction City. “All I know is they have a ton of support,” Zimmerman said of Mill Valley.  “Every track meet we go where Mill Valley is competing, there are tons of parents supporting their kids. I think it would be a great place to coach.” 

He also called the parents of a former Derby player who had transferred to Mill Valley a year before — and they, too, were equally enthused about the community.

“They said, ‘the community’s great. The school’s great and they’re really hungry for something here not just in football but all athletics and academics,’” Applebee said.

Applebee was sold. He interviewed, got the job and went to work building a football team. Over the next 16 years he created a powerhouse program and hall of fame resume. Every school in Kansas knows Mill Valley now.

Strack said that one of Applebee’s strengths is he wants everyone and everything in the football program to be great.

“He coaches, coaches,” Strack said. “He obviously coaches every player. He wants every player to grow, not just as a player but as a person. Everything here is done at a championship level.”

Actually, make that a Hall of Fame level.