Legendary Somerset High School football coach Bruce Larson, who led the Spartans to three high school state championship victories in 2002, 2012 and 2014, died on Sunday, Feb. 27, at the age of 58.

While his coaching career in Somerset is as good as any coach who has ever led a program in Wisconsin, Larson will be remembered for much more than what he did on the field. His legacy will live on in the positive impact that he had on people and communities in western Wisconsin.

When the news broke that Larson had died unexpectedly, hundreds – if not thousands – of people on social media began sharing their unique stories of Larson, who by all accounts had a personality and heart that were larger than life. Perhaps nobody outside of Larson’s family knew him better than Jordan Hansen, the current head coach of the Prescott Cardinals football team.

When Hansen was a kid, he grew up in Somerset with his best friend Rocky Larson, who is one of Bruce Larson’s two sons. The other is Reggie Larson. When Hansen was growing up, he spent a lot of time at the Larson household and was even the ball boy for some of those infamous Somerset teams that made regular trips to state championship games in the early 2000s.

When Hansen was in fifth grade, the Larson family moved closer to where Hansen lived. Once that happened, every morning Bruce Larson picked Hansen up and took him to the weight room at school.

“He would pick me up every morning,” Hansen said. “Every weekend I found myself over there a lot. As we got older, I found myself going on spontaneous trips with him and his family. We spent a lot of time over there with him. He was a huge mentor and a father figure to me.”

Based on the outpouring of support of family, friends, school staff and former students and student-athletes of Bruce Larson, it’s easy to imagine Hansen wasn’t alone in his feeling that Bruce Larson was a father figure to many young people.

The father-like relationships that Bruce Larson built with his players during his 22 seasons leading the Somerset football program positively shaped the lives of thousands of young men. He not only taught them about life but about competition and work ethic at the highest level.

During his tenure in Somerset, Larson made six state championship games – three of them he won: 2002, 2012 and 2014, and three of them he finished runner-up: 2004, 2005 and 2011. In addition to team accolades, he received individual recognition at the highest level, which included being named the Wisconsin Coach of the Year and the Don Shula NFL Coach of the Year Award, both of which he received after his 2014 state championship victory.

His coaching excellence is well known throughout western Wisconsin, but especially by the aforementioned Hansen, who played for Bruce Larson for four years before graduating from Somerset High School in 2010. He spoke about what it was like to play for Bruce Larson.

“He’s the best coach that I’ve ever got to play for or coach with,” Hansen said of Larson. “A lot of the stuff that we do here at Prescott is what I learned from him. That’s where my football knowledge came from. Growing up going through his program, he expected you to work hard and put your time in.”

Perhaps the reason Bruce Larson always had great football teams was that he was able to get everything out of each individual that they could give. He helped players reach their full potential and supported them throughout their journey – both in athletics and life.

“He got everything out of you that you had,” Hansen said. “He would push you to limits that you just didn’t think you could go to. He expected you to show up ready to go every day.”

There was something special about the way Bruce Larson approached the game. A lot of coaches have X’s and O’s dialed up in their playbook, but few – if any – were as successful as Bruce Larson was on the gridiron.

“He was never satisfied with his scheme, he was always learning, getting better, meeting with college coaches,” Hansen said. “But it’s not always X’s and O’s. When you’re that successful for that long, it’s getting the most out of the players that you have and how you bring a team together and he was the best at that. Every Friday, you were never playing for yourself, you were playing for the guy next to you.”

He got the most out of his players and in return, he was respected by coaches throughout Wisconsin. When word of Bruce Larson’s death went around the state, coaches and athletic programs throughout Wisconsin agreed to light up their football fields on the same night in tribute to Bruce Larson.

They called it “Light up for Lars” and hundreds of stadiums throughout the state were lit in his honor. They include Prescott, Ellsworth, Spring Valley, Saint Croix Falls, Somerset, and a whole host of other schools. The message even made its way to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, which was lit up in his honor. He certainly loved his Green Bay Packers. Hansen spoke about the tributes to coach Larson.

“You know how great of a person he is and how many lives that he’s touched, but it’s just amazing to see the Packers, Badgers and high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin doing it,” Hansen said. “It’s just a tremendous amount of support and that’s the kind of guy he was.”

One of the most notorious stories about Bruce Larson is the card that he gave every one of his football players as soon as they entered the program. The card was small and would fit in the wallet of every player. At the top, it said “Spartan Values” which included loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and courage. Hansen spoke about that card.

“They’re the army values,” Hansen said. “He gave that to us and said, ‘Hey, if our military follows these values, they’re probably pretty dang good values to have in your life and to live by.’ He always wanted us to be great fathers, great husbands and great people. We talked about those values and how important those are.”

The legacy that Bruce Larson leaves behind is so much larger than football. Of course, the state championships matter, and they will always be remembered. But his commitment to his players and his students, making them better on and off of the field, will matter tenfold.

The card that he gave each player is a perfect encapsulation of who Bruce Larson was as a man and coach. The bottom of that card reads as follows: “If you are in a situation that will cause you to compromise our values please read this card to rethink what you are about to do. If you need to get out of the situation, please call me and I will come get you. – Mr. Larson” He cared for his players, his family, his school and his community. His loss is devastating to the Somerset and western Wisconsin community, but the way he impacted young people and shaped them to be better individuals will continue to impact society for generations to come.

Lambeau Field in Green Bay was one of the hundreds of football fields throughout Wisconsin lit up in tribute to Bruce Larson on Friday, March 4. Larson was also a Green Bay Packers season ticket holder. Photo courtesy of the Green Bay Packers

Bruce Larson smiles as he is interviewed by media following Somerset’s 2014 football state championship victory at Camp Randall in Madison. Photo courtesy of Dave Newman

The legendary card that Bruce Larson gave out to each of his football players as they entered his program in Somerset. Photo by Reagan Hoverman