Like many busy people with a job and a family, Steve Haag wears many hats.

Football coach. Teacher. Mayor of Mexico. Husband. Father.

Balancing them all is a feat, including those two high-visibility roles of watching how a city is managed and supervising the Mexico High School varsity football program.

Haag has found Mexico to be a great fit, and he plans to end his career here and continue to live here. His full schedule requires managing multiple roles, though.

“I think probably when you start talking about time, probably teaching in the school is the biggest time (amount) that I do because I’m here every day teaching,” he said. “I think the biggest thing with both of them (coach and council) is that you have to have great people to work with. My assistant coaches do a great job. They’re very knowledgeable.”

He said the same is true with the council.

“The council is made up of people who have run businesses, who have been on other boards and have served time on other councils,” he said. “We do a good job talking and (bouncing) ideas off each other. It’s always good to have people that have knowledge.”

And from the city standpoint, he said, City Manager Bruce Slagle and department heads do a great job, he said. 

“That makes it a lot easier to do the job because Bruce does a good job managing that and all other aspects within the city,” he said. 

On two Mondays a month, the city council meets, and Mondays during the football season, Monday is a prep day of watching film. The team is usually finished by 6 p.m., and Haag is able to attend the council meeting afterward. Because of the twice-a-month meetings, there are fewer items on the agenda, and meetings can go quicker. But if there’s something significant on the agenda, council can get information ahead of time and have knowledge of it ahead of the meeting. 

In addition to his coaching and teaching duties, Haag also drives a bus in the morning and afternoon. Tuesday and Wednesday are busier days for football, because the team will practice until 6 p.m. Thursday is a little looser as far as practice, as the team is finalizing plans, and then Friday is game day.

Haag started at MHS in 2000, and it was his first job. Haag is in his 12th year as head varsity coach, and has been coaching football for 24 years. He also coached track for 22 years. A Brookfield native, he attended Hutchinson Community College in Kansas for two years and then moved on to the University of Missouri.

He got elected to council in 2020 and explained why he decided to run for office. He was reelected in 2023 and named mayor by fellow council members earlier this year, in April.

“I thought, you know, I liked history and I think you have to find a way to give back,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of people in the community that give back. I was trying to think of a way I could give back, and it kind of interested me just to kind of learn a little bit more about how the city operates.” 

When he got on the council, he wanted to work with the council and staff and “hopefully improve (the city) for the better, for the future.” He said he hears more from people about his job as a coach than in his role as mayor. There are a lot of moving parts to be responsible for in his coaching job.

“We’re in a great community, so the stuff I’ve had to deal with the football aspect is very minimal, and I think that is because of the longevity I’ve had here, being here 26 years and being part of the community,” he said. “And we’ve had success, so that helps out, too. I have good players and they have good parents, and I think we understand what we’re trying to achieve in football. People want to win, and so if you don’t, you’re going to hear some chirping.”

He said he won’t have anybody approach him and say something about it, but word can get around. But in analyzing the job itself and people turning out for a Friday game, he receives a little more pressure from the coaching part of his life. 

“We’re on a stage every Friday night, and so you want to make sure that you perform well,” he said.

As far as the council aspect of his life, people will call and talk to him, he said, but he said he hasn’t had any “hateful stuff” while serving on the council. Everyone has his or her interests in seeing something being addressed in the city. 

Haag said people have been positive with what the football team and city are doing, but he understands there always will be negativity.

“Somebody saying something on social media or whatever is really not going to change what I do,” he said. “I think that we have done a really good job and so we’ll stay the course and just try to build young men and hopefully make Mexico better for the future.”