Steve Kimbro - Nokomis High School

[February 02, 2020] 

Steve Kimbro is in his 39th season as a Head Coach and all 39 years been at the helm of the Redskins in Nokomis. Coach Kimbro returned to his alma mater to begin his head coaching career and has developed his program into one of the state’s most competitive and respected high school teams.

Currently, Coach Kimbro’s career coaching record stands at 830-305, that puts him 4th on the IHSA All-Time Career Coaching wins list. Coach Kimbro is also number 2 on the IHSA list for most wins at one school….830 wins.

With 14 Regional titles, 4 Sectional titles and 3 Super Sectional titles, Coach Kimbro’s teams are no strangers to post-season success. During the 2007-2008 season, the Redskins finished 2nd at the IHSA State Tournament and a 3rd place state finish in the 2012-2013 season.

Coach Kimbro has been recognized as one of the state’s best basketball coaches and is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Coach Kimbro has earned an enormous amount of respect from players, fellow coaches, administrators and game officials. During a recent conversation with one of the state’s larges officials associations, the Vice President of Basketball Officials commented on the reputation Coach Kimbro has earned: “When we talk about the success high school coaches have brought to the game in Illinois, we definitely need to include Steve Kimbro in that conversation. Coach Kimbro gets the most of his players night in and night out. His rapport his staff and the professionalism he exhibits during play is rivaled by many. We are so lucky to have Coach Kimbro as one of our coaches in the state of Illinois.”

While we recognize several decades of accomplishments, we also notice that many changes have come with high school athletics over the years. Conferences have changed. Football playoffs are now divided by districts. Three officials now work a basketball game, when there used to be two. The State Finals were once played at Assembly Hall in Champaign. Wooden bleachers have been replaced with plastic composite and new rules and procedures have made the games the safest they’ve ever been. Yet through all these changes, one thing remains the same. The amount of respect for these coaches here tonight is just as present as ever and it is because of them, high school athletics are what they are today. The world is brighter because of them. Gentlemen…to that…we say thank you!

[Text received from Cameron Kurtz]