MOUNT VERNON — Howard native Mike Durbin has gone a long way since he graduated from East Knox High School. It has also been a few years.
Durbin, the son of Francis and Cora Durbin, is in his 23rd season as the head basketball coach at the College of Saint Benedict, an all-women’s college in St. Joseph, Minn. Durbin also serves as the athletic media relations director.
On Wednesday, Durbin joined a club that few coaches do — the 500-win club — and at a ripe young age. His team defeated Macalester College, 66-61, giving him win No. 500. He is only the 10th women’s coach in NCAA Division III history to do so.
“I’m glad to get to 500 before I got to 50. I’m 49 right now,” said Durbin. “It is a very nice professional milestone. I am a little uncomfortable with the attention, but at the same time, I’m really happy that the institution is getting this attention.”
Durbin has developed a program that has consistently been one of the top in Division III. His 496 wins at Saint Benedict can attest to that.
“There is a multitude of reasons why I think the program has had so much success,” said Durbin. “I do think the institution is a very attractive place for women to start their vocations. I have also had a tremendous assistant coach. Denny Johnson has been my assistant all 23 years, which is really not very common in Division III because of all the part-time contracts. He is also our head softball coach.”
Durbin began his college career at Wittenberg in 1985, but prior to that, he was a high school assistant at East Knox. After graduating from Kent State University in 1981, Durbin was searching for his life’s calling.
“I always wanted to be a coach, but I didn’t have the desire to be a teacher,” Durbin said. “I didn’t want to teach math or science, to be truly a school teacher. When I went off to college, I had hopes that the next best thing would be a sports broadcaster. That didn’t work out and I had the opportunity to go back and work with Chet Looney. I played for Chet when I went to East Knox, and then I had the opportunity to work with him within the football program.
“My sister, Melinda, was also playing girls basketball for East Knox at that time, and was part of an extremely successful team that Chet coached. He asked me to assist that program, which I did for a couple of years.”
Durbin’s first coaching experience at Wittenberg was a forgettable one. His squad went 4-22 in his only season at the Tigers’ helm. He got the job at Saint Benedict in 1986 and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I was just really fortunate, at that time, to be a head coach again,” Durbin said. “The previous year when I was at Wittenberg, we were 4-22. I knew when I took that position that it was an interim position, so I was just thrilled to get another job. I really didn’t care where it was. As it turned out, I am a small-town, Midwest type of guy and that’s exactly what (St. Joseph and St. Cloud) are like. The value system of the institution and the town seemed to be perfect. I can still say that today. It is just a really good fit for me and my family.
“It feels just like yesterday,” said Durbin of his first coaching experiences. “It has been such an incredible — and enjoyable — experience to work here with the people that I do and the athletes that I have the pleasure of coaching. Time flies. That is certainly very true for the position I’ve been in. The last 22 years have flown by.”
The administration at Saint Benedict must have saw something in Durbin, and it has paid off with big dividends. Durbin’s worst performance came in his first season, one in which his team went 17-9. Since then, his teams have posted a 479-104 record, including a 6-1 mark this season.
Durbin has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, and the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year twice — in 1992-93 and in 1997-98. His teams have won 11 MIAC titles, and have played in 15 of the last 22 NCAA Division III National Tournaments. His team was runner-up in 1998-99, and also made it to the Final Four in 1992-93.
“I am most proud of the fact that we have been consistent for 23 years,” said Durbin. “My first year, we were 17-9, and since then, we’ve only had a 19-6 year. Twenty of my 22 seasons, we’ve had at least 20 wins. I’m really proud of that consistency.
“What plays a part in that is we’ve had a junior varsity team all of those years. Not every Division III school can say that. We had 19 to 22 players in practice every day where a lot of programs, who don’t have junior varsity, only have 13 to 15 athletes.”
A career of 24 years can produce many memories, but for Durbin, it is easy to pinpoint his best.
“My most memorable moments are my two Final Four teams,” Durbin said. “Those were incredibly special teams and such enjoyable experiences. To go that deep into the NCAA Tournament and play for a national championship in 1998-99 was a huge deal. Not every coach has that experience. I feel very fortunate to have that opportunity twice.”
With so many wins under his belt, Durbin has had opportunities to move on to bigger, but not necessarily better things. He chooses to stay at Saint Benedict, however. It is his home.
“I had an opportunity to move after, I think, my first Final Four appearance in 1992-93. I could have gone to a Division II program — Morningside College in Iowa. Now, they are an NAIA school. When I went to interview, they were so wonderful, but yet, it really helped me appreciate where I am at. This is a great place that I have the opportunity to work at. I still feel that way today. I haven’t applied for a job for a long time and don’t intend to be doing so. I really love where I am at.”
Durbin doesn’t see himself as a mentor to other would-be coaches. While it is an honor to have someone want to resemble him, he would rather have the players he coaches make an impact. That’s how it was for him early on.
“It is kind of interesting on a couple of fronts,” said Durbin. “I tell my players that there is no rule or policy that says a small catholic school in Central Minnesota can’t win national championships. I am more hopeful that the people that I coach will be mentors for future generations of girls and women in sports. I want to encourage that in my players. I recognize that our players need to be the ones that inspire others along the way, just as I have been inspired by people like Chet Looney, Paul Swanson and Ed McGlumphy. I am forever indebted to their contributions to my career.
“I’ve always said beyond my own parents, Chet Looney has had the most impact on my life. My dad is the hardest working man I know, my mom is the most kind hearted person I know and Chet showed me how to treat others, be respectful and challenge people to play at their very best. It was Paul Swanson that gave me the opportunity to help recruit for Mount Vernon Nazarene University. He was the volleyball coach, and he needed some help on the basketball side. He gave me that opportunity and I really appreciated it. The impact he continued to make was he encouraged me to go get my masters and coach. I think he saw that this was something I might be able to do a pretty good job at. Ed McGlumphy, who was the boys coach at East Knox when I was helping out Chet, really showed me how to do things right. That’s part of me — and why teaching the fundamentals of the game are so important.”
Durbin met his wife, Teri, at Saint Benedict. Teri is a senior associate director of admissions and, together, they have one daughter, Morgan.
“My daughter plays basketball on a traveling team,” Durbin said. “I really think I became a better coach 13 years ago when she was born because I came to appreciate and recognize how I would like my daughter to be coached. I needed to keep that in mind as I was making decisions about my team and my players. ... I owe a lot to my daughter. She helps gives me perspective.”
With this milestone in his back pocket, Durbin is focused on what lies ahead and not the past. He is just as hungry today as he was when he stepped on campus in 1986.
“I still am really about wanting to develop consistency in our program,” said Durbin. “I would be extraordinarily happy if I could coach another 10 to 15 years and still be able to look back and say, ‘The program was always a contender, and was always among one of the elite programs in the nation at the Division III level.’ That would be wonderful. That certainly is what I am working toward. I have such admiration for the people that I have coached and the people that I am currently coaching. For me, it is really about those people and their development, and what small part I can help in their lives.”
