“It’s a great day to be a Tiger.”

These are the last words said by social studies teacher and varsity football coach Paul Dunn at the end of every government and economics class. And he would know because he has played or coached football his entire life.

Dunn’s grandparents are from Clarks Grove and Hayward. His parents both graduated from Albert Lea. Dunn himself attended high school in St. Ansgar where he played halfback and linebacker positions. He was a two-time All-Conference player. The team went undefeated during his senior year. They did not make the playoffs, which was heartbreaking.

Dunn intended to go to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, but had a horrible experience when he got to campus. When he got home from the college visit he grabbed the mail from the box and had a flyer from another college: Augustana of Illinois.

“I went down and fell in love with it,” said Dunn, explaining how fate seemed to have already had plans for him. He registered during his visit and was officially a Viking where he played in three national championships from 1985 through 1987. Dunn played as a punter, kicker, fullback, tailback and wingback.his perfect college streak would be broken in his final game. The Vikings lost in the semifinals to University of Dayton: 38-36. Before this loss their record had been 59-0-1. It was a streak that preceded Dunn’s playing on the team.

“It was horrible,” Dunn said, recalling the loss. Both his high school and college experiences formed his love of the game.

Dunn started his career at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School as a practicum before he was hired as a coach thirty-six years ago. His first teaching job was in Gillette Wyoming where he taught government, economics and history. He also coached football, wrestling, and baseball for all four years he was in the Equality State. He decided to move back to Minnesota after getting married and was employed by BOLD Public Schools where he worked as a social studies teacher in government and economics. He was also an assistant coach for football, wrestling and baseball.

“At BOLD, we were state runners up the last year I was there, which propelled me into a job at Springfield Public schools, and I was the coach there for 20 years,” said Dunn. “While I was at Springfield, we won the state championship in 2005 in football, and in the same year, we won the state championship in girl softball in 2006. It was quite the year.”

Back to back championships in the 05-06 school year was a coaching dream. Dunn coached at Springfield for 20 years before taking a year off from the game. He got a call from Paul Durbahn, the activities director for ALHS at that time, and asked if he was interested in working in Albert Lea.

“And the rest is pretty much history,” said Dunn.

This is his fifth season with the football team and started the reorganization process for the program in the summer of 2020. But Dunn’s first season of AL coaching took an unexpected turn. The State High School League canceled the season because of COVID. After public uproar, the season was reinstated and Dunn made his coaching debut for three games and eleven practices.

“You didn’t know day to day who was going to show up to practice because of quarantine, and all the other stuff we got to live through,” said Dunn explaining the unpredictability of his first season which ended 0-3.

Dunn’s plan to rebuild the ALHS football program was to start with a solid coaching team and then generate interest in the student body. The Tiger Football Camp has run every summer and continues to grow every year. He reintroduced punt, pass, and kick to work on basic skills and teambuilding with the youth.

“One of the biggest things about my philosophy is that we try to build a family, where the kids feel like they belong,” said Dunn. “And we do that by trying to support them as much as we can, in football, outside of football, in the classroom, that kind of thing.”

His philosophy is working. Dunn has built the program back by almost tripling the numbers of players from 28 players in 2021 to 80 in 2024.

“I think one thing that I appreciate about Coach Dunn is that he’s trying to build a culture in which everybody is included,” said football assistant coach Max Jeffrey. “And it’s a family atmosphere, and he wants the players to feel that they’re something bigger than themselves.”

Dunn is known for his treatment of his assistant coaches and players, many have said that he doesn’t raise his voice often, unless there’s a serious concern that his players and assistant coaches have to pay attention to, and often works to support his players, boosting their confidence and empowering them to play their parts on the team.

“He’s really passionate about football and just really cares a lot about us. He treats us like his family,” said Junior wide receiver Carter Conn. “And football is just a big part of his life, you can tell he’s really passionate about it.”

Dunn isn’t just building a culture; he is also getting wins. This year the team beat Tri-City United, 27-19, during Homecoming Week. The next week they beat Worthington 33-13. And the community has responded. The students who come to support the team have shown enthusiasm in attendance numbers and school spirit. As part of reaching out to the community, Dunn’s coaching staff has started airing the Tiger Top 5 plays of the week on Tiger Vision, the school broadcast news, which has created additional hype.

The marketing plan is working, but for Dunn, it will always be about the players and the team.

“Coach Dunn is always someone I look up to,” said senior captain Evan Schroeder.

Dunn is a constant in the lives of the many players that learn from him, both in the classrooms and on the field. Part of his coaching remains with his players as they begin their futures.

“I’ve loved the game my whole life,” said Dunn. “I want to share that game with the kids. I hope the kids have learned the life lesson to ‘Just keep playin’!”