Jack Steck, who coached Drury University into an NAIA powerhouse before spending much of the past three decades coaching Missouri State, was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Sunday night at a ceremony in Springfield.
Steck coached at Drury from 1968 until 1983, winning back-to-back NAIA national titles in 1981 and 1982. He moved to Missouri State in 1983 and coached the Bears for 29 seasons, also taking over the women’s program when it was first established in 1998.
Shawn “The Screaming Viking” Klosterman, who’s a regular around SwimSwam with comments and story contributions, swam for Steck at Missouri State in the late ’90s. We caught up with Klosterman, who raved about his experience swimming under Steck.
“Jack had a gift for finding kids who hadn’t done much out of high school and building a successful team from them.” Klosterman said. “With limited resources he worked wonders.”
“The underdog mentality he preached not only served us well in taking on big teams in a duel, but also as we take on the challenges out there in our adult lives long after we have hung up our suits. Proud to be one of Jack’s Bears.”
Steck retired from coaching Missouri State in 2012, giving him 44 years of collegiate coaching within the state. His Missouri State Bears won 11 men’s conference titles and 8 women’s during his years in Springfield.
I remember Coach Steck complaining at conference one year about me deciding to walk-on at SIU instead of taking his offer of books at Missouri State. I called him about a recruit I had a couple years ago and he still remembered me! Congrats Coach Steck!
Well said Shawn! Proud to be a bear.