Faithful Leaders of COIN Team
The COIN Ministry “Team” includes coaches dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and includes coaches dedicated to serving and supporting the COIN Ministry Vision and Mission.
Board Members
Steve Quatro
President
Steve Quatro has served as a COIN Board Member for over 25 years, bringing decades of faithful commitment to the ministry and its mission.
Steve married his high school sweetheart in 1974, and together they have been blessed with 3 children and 8 grandchildren. A graduate of Biola University, Steve began his career as a high school teacher and coach, leading programs in football, basketball, and baseball. He later spent 14 years in commercial real estate before answering a call to ministry, serving with Sports Outreach Los Angeles and Eternity Sports.
Steve’s heart for coaches and their families runs deep. He loves serving with COIN because of its Christ-centered approach to caring for the whole person — not just the coach on the field, but the spouse, the family, and the life behind the whistle.
Brian Willmer
Vice President
Brian Willmer serves as Vice President of COIN Ministry, bringing over 20 years of coaching experience at both the high school and college levels. He currently serves as Head Football Coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University and has been in a leadership role with COIN for 15 years.
Brian’s life work has been dedicated to building Godly men through athletics — developing not just athletes, but men of character, integrity, and faith. His passion lies in helping organizations grow and build strong, cohesive teams both on and off the field.
A UCLA alumnus, Brian met COIN founder Nelson in 1996 while playing at UCLA, and their friendship has been the foundation of a shared mission ever since. Brian joined COIN in 2021, bringing his coaching expertise and deep faith to help expand the ministry’s reach and impact.
Based in Huntington Beach, Brian is committed to helping coaches grow in their faith while making a lasting impact on their campuses and within their churches. He wholeheartedly believes in Nelson’s vision to reach coaches with the Gospel and is honored to serve alongside him in that mission.
Mark Douglas Godown
Treasurer
Doug has been a dedicated member of the COIN Ministry family for over 20 years, serving faithfully as a board member. With 35 years of experience as a financial advisor, he brings a wealth of expertise grounded in biblical principles of financial stewardship and sound advisement.
A lifelong athlete, Doug discovered firsthand the profound impact that sports and mentorship can have on young people. That personal experience ignited a passion for encouraging and supportings coaches who are shaping character, building confidence, and guiding youth toward their fullest potential.
Rooted in Anaheim, he has also served faithfully at Friends Church Yorba Linda for 34 years, where his commitment to ministry and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been a cornerstone of his life. His dedication to faith, family, and community reflects a life well-lived in service to others.
He has been married for 43 years and is the proud father of three sons and grandfather of five.
John Tebay
Secretary
John Tebay has served as a staff pastor for approximately 55 years, 42 of which were spent at Calvary Church of Placentia — a congregation with deep historical roots, having been founded by Charles Fuller in 1925. He became a solo pastor at the age of 24 and has devoted his life to building up the Body of Christ through faithful, local church ministry.
Early in his education at BIOLA College, John came to a defining conviction: that his role in the local church was the highest priority in his life — above academic achievement, institutional involvement, and even the many meaningful relationships he formed along the way. That conviction only deepened over the decades. He came to believe that this priority is not unique to those in ministry positions, but is the calling of every believer. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” That calling, John believes, is to Jesus and His church.
This high view of the church shapes everything John brings to the Board of COIN. He sees the most important work God is doing in the world as the building of His Church — and as Paul declares in Ephesians 3:21, “to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, Amen.”
John also brings a thoughtful perspective on the relationship between parachurch ministries and local churches — a tension he has navigated firsthand throughout his ministry. He draws a meaningful parallel between Paul’s example and COIN’s purpose: just as Paul’s calling was to Jesus and His church while his mission was to the Gentiles, COIN’s calling is to Jesus and His church while its mission is to the coaches and athletes of the campus. In John’s view, coaches fellowships exist to encourage one another in their shared calling to Christ, to reach unbelieving coaches and athletes with the Gospel, and ultimately to send responsive students into local churches to be built up as mature followers of Jesus.
It is this deep ecclesial conviction — and a lifetime of living it out — that John Tebay brings to the work of COIN Ministry.
COIN Staff
Nelson Cook
Executive Director
(714) 350-9219
Born in Ontario, Canada, Nelson’s family moved to Southern California while he was in elementary school. The budding athlete played various sports throughout his youth and began coaching while in high school. At the same time, Nelson was exposed to the life-changing message of God’s love for him – Nelson learned that God wanted to have a personal relationship, not a religious habit or experience. He took God at His word and put his trust in Jesus Christ alone for His salvation.
Drafted in 1968, he served in the United States Army for over two years and was discharged in Fairbanks, Alaska. With a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Education from the University of North Texas, Nelson found himself working for several para-church ministries, including Campus Crusade, Youth for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and several churches. The young teacher, who at the time coached football, basketball, and tennis in Richardson, Texas, got married, had children, then moved his family to Orange County in 1987 to take a position with FCA.
In 1995, Nelson’s wife tragically passed, leaving him with three daughters aged 9, 10, and 12. The Lord lent His strength to Nelson, ensuring his family’s needs were met through prayer and strong support from his church and friends.
And then in 1996, the Lord led him to start a new ministry.
In January of 1997, Nelson officially founded the COIN (Coaches of Influence) Ministry.
While directing the coaches ministry, Nelson was a tennis coach at Hope International University for five years. In 2008, the school’s men’s team won the NCCAA National Championship, and Nelson was awarded Coach of the Year. Nelson still serves at Hope International University as its Sports Chaplain.
In 2016, the Lord brought a helpmate, Madeline, into Nelson’s life. Together, they have a blended family of four daughters, four sons-in-law, two stepsons, eight granddaughters, and four grandsons.
Nelson and Madeline live in Placentia, California.
Bob Parsons
Staff – Midwest Regional Rep
(605) 517-0798
Bob has been with COIN since March 2016.
Before joining COIN, Bob served with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) for 14 years. Prior to that, he and his wife, Lisa, served in Ecuador with Reach Beyond Ministries – Bob as a teacher and Lisa as a nurse. Bob has taught and coached in Kimball and Custer School Districts, both in South Dakota.
Bob’s love of sport has been lifelong; he was a high school all-state basketball player in 1977, played college basketball at South Dakota State University in 1978 for a season and three seasons at Dakota Wesleyan University.
It was in Bob’s senior year of high school that he became a Christian, under the leadership of Pastor Glenn Wessel and the influence of Marly Gjesdal, a WWII veteran who Bob lovingly remembers as a beloved bachelor and mechanic, who “not only fixed my car, but me spiritually by taking me to church and leading me to Christ.”
Bob and Lisa, who were married in 1983, share four children: Caleb, Isaac, Ellie, and Israel.
Mike Ogas
Staff – North Orange County Rep
(714) 488-8009
Mike grew up in Huntington Beach, Ca, and attended Edison high school where he played both football and basketball. It was during this time that he met Nelson Cook at a family camp at Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, California. Little did he know how God was going to use this relationship later.
Following high school, Mike played college football for his dad, Dave Ogas, at Santa Ana College where he earned a scholarship to Cal State Northridge. Following that period of his life, in 1999, Mike ended up at Mini-Camp with the St. Louis Rams. Mike eventually ended up playing for the NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire in 2000. It was at this time when Mike would suffer an injury that ended his playing career. At this point, Mike felt the calling to pursue an education and become a PE teacher/football coach. Mike has now spent the last 21 years coaching football at the high school and junior college level.
In every phase of Mike’s life, he says, God has been faithful. He has cherished Proverbs 16:9, which says, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Mike and his wife, Ashley, have a son, Vinton, and a daughter, Tatum. The Ogas family resides in Tustin, California, and attend and serve as shepherding elders at Mariners Church in Irvine.
Greg Pappas
Support Staff – Long Beach Rep
(562) 544-5289
After five years of serving as Athletic Director and head coach of the men’s basketball team at Hope International University in Fullerton, California, Greg retired after the 2009 season.
Prior to coming to Hope International, Greg served as an Assistant Coach at Azusa Pacific University for three years and was part of two Golden State Athletic Championship teams in those three years, including the 2000-2001 team that won a school-record 35 games but eventually lost in the NAIA semifinal game.
Before going to APU, Greg spent 20 years coaching at the high school level. Greg was the first basketball coach at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach when the program started in 1998, served as head coach at Rowland High School for six years, leading them to the playoffs in four of those years, and was named San Gabriel Valley Tribune Coach of the Year in 1991.
Greg holds a Bachelors in Business from Long Beach State University, as well as a Masters in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific University, Greg resides in Long Beach with his wife, Lisa and his two sons, Jordan and Brandon.
Sam Hieronymus
Support Staff – Riverside Rep
(951) 675-9128
Sam is a graduate of Washington State University. Post college, Sam wrestled with Athletes in Action for six years and served as a member of staff with Campus Crusade for Christ Coaches and high school ministry. Happily married to Jan Hieronymus, Sam and Jan have three children and eight grandchildren. Presently, Sam is involved with the Ambassadors Of Compassion Character development program.
Tim Sweeny Sr.
Support Staff – Western Arizona Rep
(951) 283-2841
Coach Tim Sweeney Sr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, but he considers himself a native Californian. Educated in Long Beach, Tim was blessed to have been part of several championship basketball teams at L.B. Poly High School, Long Beach City College, and Chapman College, where he received a basketball scholarship.
Tim and his wife Charye, his high school sweetheart, have been teammates and mentors to players at Mt. San Antonio College, Fullerton College, Hope International University, Chapman University, Poly High, and Lakewood High School.
In 2002, Coach Sweeny along with a few Christian coaches helped launch a COIN Coaches Fellowship Group. Tim holds Philippians 4:13 close to his heart: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Susan Jahns
Executive Administrator
Diane Freeman
Accountant
Jocelyn Him
Marketing
Want to join a Coaches Fellowship?
Click below to find one near you
