GLANDORF – Before Michelle Maag took over the reins of the Ottawa Glandorf Lady Titans soccer program the team had made just one state finals appearance.
Since Maag took the head coaching job in 2021 from former mentor Chris Podraski, the Titans have reached four straight state finals and have amassed an overall record of 83-9-2.
“When I got hired to be the head coach, I was 25 and had not been a head coach before,” said Maag on her journey. “I am incredibly lucky to do get to do what I love by coaching this team, but I’m even more lucky for who I get to do it with.”
Maag, a 2013 Ottawa-Glandorf alum and 1st team Western Buckeye League selection during her time as a Lady Titan brings a love for not only the program and sport, but also her players.
“Michelle loves the game of soccer, respects it, and understands it better than anyone,” said O-G senior Carlie Brinkman. “Her game time decisions, her scouts, her practices, all helped us become the elite program we are today.”
While wins and losses are the measure of a successful program from the outside, relationships and the ability to help make her players better people is what will ultimately be Michelle’s mark at O-G.
St. Marys girls’ soccer coach Nick Wilson remarked about Maag, “coaching obviously is about X’s and O’s, but it’s also about so much more. Coach Maag has figured out how to relate to her players, and create massive buy in to what she’s doing. It’s been impressive to watch.”
O-G came firing out of the gate in the first match under Maag’s leadership in 2021 with a 10-1 victory over Evergreen. Since that game, the Titans have amassed 436 goals while giving up just 39 to opponents during their four-year run.
While defense first and a “1-0” mentality is preached to her team by the fourth-year coach, life lessons and core value talks are what resonate the most.
“Michelle has been a great role model and leader for me and our entire team,” remarked senior Makenna Siefker. “She teaches us how to have a good work ethic and persevere through adversity. She has played a vital role in both my personal and team successes.”
“Michelle has 3 core values she gives us as a team,” said Brinkman. “These have helped me not only with the success I’ve had on the soccer field, but also the success I’ve had in the classroom.”
Echoing the statement made by her classmate, Siefker remarked “almost every day in practice our three core values get brought up. These values have helped me both on and off the field. I have learned a lot of lessons that apply to life and not just soccer.”
Only 13 times in state history according to the OHSAA record books has a school reached four straight state title games, a feat O-G accomplished this season while making an appearance in the Division IV contest.
Ottawa Glandorf Athletic Director Tyson McGlaughlin, himself a successful coach at the school said of Maag, “Michelle is everything you want in a coach. She’s accountable, responsible, and pushing our girls to be their best on and off the field. She’s a true role model for our student-athletes.”
While accomplishments and trophies are generally linked to the success of the coaches in most programs, Maag puts the spotlight directly on her players: “winning titles shows how hard these girls work and how much belief they have in themselves, and our team.”
Perhaps the best way to sum up Michelle Maag is this quote from senior Savannah Recker: “As a person I see her as someone who is very successful, but hates the attention on herself, and wants all of her players to have it.”
