Kansas Wesleyan baseball coach Bill Neale was thrilled to learn he is the recipient of the 2025 Randy Bemiss Coyote Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award is named in honor of the former KWU golf coach, who passed away in May 2017. It recognizes individuals who have made an impact on the athletics program over an extended period.
For Neale, the honor is heightened on a personal level.
"This means a lot to me," said Neale who enters his 12th season at KWU. "I was one of the last people with him before he passed away. I was there most of those days when he went in the hospital and spent a lot of time with him."
Neale lost a close friend with Bemiss' passing, someone he respected and enjoyed being with. He remembers Bemiss as a unique and up-front guy.
"His honesty," Neale said. "He was blunt, to the point, and he was fun to be around. I mean, he lived a great life. He was in rodeos, he was a golf guy and professional gambler, at one point. He had fun in life.
"He used to tell me all the stories. I rode with him a few times to events and different things, and he would come to my office and just sit down and chat. He really cared about his student-athletes and, ultimately, cared about all the student-athletes in the SAC (Student Activities Center)."
Neale has built a stellar program at Wesleyan. His record is 352-229 and includes a 229-205 slate in the Kansas Conference. The Coyotes have surged the past five seasons, going 200-89 while qualifying for NAIA postseason play the last four years. The 2024 team was the first KWU team to compete in the NAIA World Series.
"I think everyone around here knows how much Kansas Wesleyan means to me, and not just the baseball program," he said. "I teach a lot of different classes, and I take my time to try to get to know kids in other sports. I see kids out in the SAC and say hi to football, volleyball, basketball players, golfers or whomever. I kind of bleed purple and gold now. I want to see every sport do well, I want to see everyone have the success that we've been having."
Neale credits those who have worked alongside him through the years.
"I don't think I'd be getting an award like this if it wasn't for the people that I've surrounded myself with, whether it's GAs or assistant coaches," he said. "Coach (Jonathan) Freemyer (now head coach at Ottawa) came here on very little to no pay. For someone with his experience and recruiting background and professional baseball background to come here was unbelievable.
"And then, right now I have coach (Bret) Ringer and coach Huff (Tyler Huffstickler '16) as full-time assistants, who easily both could be head coaches somewhere else. They choose each year to stay here, and I think it's something to do with the program that we've built that people want to be a part of this winning."
Last season, KWU shared the KCAC regular season title with Oklahoma Wesleyan, won the conference's postseason tournament and was runner-up in the Upland, Ind., NAIA Opening Round Tournament.
Consistency is the key, according to Neale.
"I learned a long time ago, there's no just flipping the switch when you want to be good," he said. "You've got to be great every day in the moment of what you're doing, whether it's in the classroom, it's in the weight room or it's on the field."
Neale said he strives to be like Bemiss: "Just being genuine yourself, being the person you are. I think Randy was a person who kind of wore his feelings on his sleeve, and that's me. I tell my players, good, bad or ugly, you're always going to see the true me. I'm not going to fake it, and I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I'm their biggest supporter, their biggest cheerleader when they're doing well, and when they're not doing well, it's not that I'm mad at them, I'm frustrated for them.