At Pewaukee Schools (WI), athletic success is measured in more than just points on a scoreboard. Athletic and Activities Director Jeff Behrens has spent the past seven years cultivating a comprehensive culture, rooted in development, accountability, and belonging. His approach may involve championship teams but it centers on building better people. It’s a mindset informed by his own path as a coach and teacher, and it’s a model with proven success.
“My role in all of this is just to oversee the culture of everything,” says Behrens. “I make sure we are maintaining the culture that we want to have and create a place where these athletes can thrive, flourish, and blossom into the athletic talents that they are within themselves.”
Behrens arrived at Pewaukee after eight years as athletic director at Whitewater High School (WI) and prior stints as a physical education teacher and coach. He spent 14 years coaching baseball, football, and wrestling. That coaching background still guides him today and is ingrained in Pewaukee’s mission statement — “Building better people through the athletic experience.”
“If I wasn’t an athletic director I’d still be coaching because it’s just a fantastically rewarding experience,” says Behrens. “The idea that we have the ability, as coaches, to transform lives and make them realize that they can be more and do more than they even realized — because that’s what the coaches did for me — that’s just really powerful. I try to keep that in the forefront as an AD when I communicate with our coaches.”
How professional development sustains culture
Coach development at Pewaukee is embedded into the administrative structure. Behrens facilitates monthly meetings that serve as both an operations check-in and a mini-conference.
“I’m a continuous learner so I’m always looking for things to develop professionally,” says Behrens. “I bring the same mindset to our coaching staff. We’ve done book studies. We have optional monthly meetings. They never lasts more than an hour. The first half hour I give information that our coaches need to know, but the second half hour is usually dedicated to a coach in our department who is doing something really well. They teach the rest of our coaches what they’re doing. We have really great coaches here in Pewaukee, so why not use those resources to make everybody else better?”
The commitment to ongoing learning extends beyond his own program as well. Behrens is the LTI (Leadership Training Institute) coordinator for Wisconsin’s athletic directors, teaches NIAAA coursework, and mentors ADs statewide. His emphasis on culture-building earned him the Wisconsin Athletic Director of the Year award—and national speaking invitations that underscore his impact across the field.
“I think I got that award not just because of the success we’ve had at Pewaukee, but I also mentor other ADs,” says Behrens. “I do a lot of things around the state and across the country. I’ve spoken at our national convention several times. Being recognized for doing all of that I think is the reason I probably got that award. But it I’m very honored to be part of that group.”
Program success and student leadership initiatives
Pewaukee’s athletic track record involves a 2021 football state title, a boys basketball three-peat (2021, 2022, 2023), 2024 girls basketball state title, and multiple Division I college athletes. But Behrens is quick to shift credit toward sustainable structures, youth programs, strong coaching hires, and a school-wide commitment to development. He sees himself as the steward of a healthy ecosystem rather than being strictly focused on winning. Books like What Drives Winning and Chop Wood Carry Water have shaped the core principles of the program. Each principle is presented with purpose — including definitions, observable benchmarks, and expected behaviors.
“I think one thing that keeps our process unique and different than a lot of programs is we don’t just have big banners that have our core principles,” Behrens says. “We have core principles that have definitions and key indicators. Underneath each core principle is a definition. So what does it mean to compete? To maximize your skills talents and abilities. How will you know if your students are accomplishing this? They’re going to have passion, pride, enthusiasm, and toughness.”
Leadership isn’t just relegated to the adults. Pewaukee is developing a student-athlete leadership council is designed to empower the most influential voices within each team. Selected by both peers and coaches, students will engage in discussions, role-play scenarios, and give feedback on school-wide athletic culture. The goal is to create team leaders who embody and spread program standards.
“As a coaching staff, we talk about rules versus standards,” says Behrens. “We are more standards-driven than rules-driven. Where behaviors are going to drive results, culture is going to drive that behavior. I think the most powerful phrase that can ever be said in a program is, ‘This is the way we do things here’ or ‘That’s not what we do here.’ If we can get kids saying that to each other, we don’t need rules and we have a pretty good culture. So that’s what I’m hoping from this leadership group, they can go back to their teams and say, ‘This is what we do in this program.'”
NIL preparation and administrative foresight
On April 25th, 2025, the WIAA approved NIL participation for high school athletes in Wisconsin. Going into effect at the end of May 2025, Behrens made sure he was prepared. He hosted an NIL workshop weeks before the rule took effect, partnering with Influential Athlete to explain compliance, risks, and communication strategies. He also created a dedicated NIL resource hub on the school’s website.
“As far as oversight and administering it, our parents and our athletes are going to have a lot of the responsibility,” says Behrens. “They’re going to have to know that they’re following the rules when a company is contacting them. My job is really oversight. I can’t help our student athletes get deals. I can’t help tell them where to go, what to do. I don’t even have the ability or the right to know what the terms of the NIL activity is. If I find an athlete has broken the rule, I have the responsibility of taking away the eligibility and self-reporting to the WIAA. So I come in like the hammer, and that’s only if I find out about it.”
While NIL activity may only touch 1–2% of students, Behrens sees its value in building skills like public speaking, brand awareness, and professionalism. Although, he cannot assist athletes in securing deals or even request details of arrangements. To ensure the process runs smoothly, he urges families to run it by him first. The proactive approach puts Pewaukee ahead of the curve statewide.
Jeff Behrens curates an environment where character is cultivated, talent is developed, and culture is non-negotiable. Whether he’s building culture, fine-tuning leadership, preparing families for the new realities of NIL, or driving facility upgrades, his work reflects the role of the high school athletic director has never been more complex—or more critical. At Pewaukee High School, that role is being redefined not by slogans or posters, but through systems that work and people who care.
