Mike Barnes has the formula for success and longevity.A former chemistry teacher at Stevenson, Barnes marks this fall his 50th consecutive season as the boys tennis coach at the school that is part of the Utica district.The only coach in the history of the program, which debuted in the spring of 1976, Barnes has guided the Titans from meager beginnings when they had only three courts into an era of a mega conference, through format changes at the local and state levels and a worldwide pandemic.Barnes’ tenure also included the 2007 shift of seasons by the Michigan High School Athletic Association that led to him coaching two boys campaigns in the same calendar year.“I picked up two of the 50 seasons in one year,” Barnes recalled as the Titans played L’Anse Creuse in a Macomb Area Conference crossover match Monday.Marc Bates has been the coach at L’Anse Creuse since 1993. Even after 30-plus years across four decades at the helm, Bates is taken aback by Barnes’ longevity.“It’s amazing that Mike’s still going at it after all this time,” Bates said. “He’ll do it, I think, for as long as he can.”Barnes, who retired from teaching in 2007, and his wife spend winters in Florida, where he teaches a bird identification class through the Audubon Society.He stepped down as the girls coach recently, which gives the couple more time to spend in the Sunshine State.The Titans, members of the MAC White Division, played in two tournaments before taking on L’Anse Creuse in their first dual meet of the season.“One of the neat things about working with these guys is that they come around for each other and support each other,” Barnes said.“Last year was one of the closest teams we’ve ever had.”Typical of men and women who spend decades in teaching and coaching, Barnes is touched by former students and athletes whose paths he crosses, sometimes years after the youngsters graduated.Stevenson coach Mike Barnes (right) talks with Daniel Buzdugan during a break in the 1 singles match that was part of the Titans’ MAC crossover against L’Anse Creuse on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (GEORGE POHLY for MediaNews Group)“It’s super,” he said.Tennis, he added, lends itself to those connections.“It’s a lifetime sport,” Barnes said. “It’s great to know a lot of them are still playing.”When Stevenson started its program, lineups consisted of four singles flights and three for doubles. The Titans’ three courts weren’t enough to host competition.“We played all of our home matches for at least six years at Ford,” Barnes said. “It might have been longer.”The Stevenson campus on Dodge Park Road wasn’t able to accommodate much expansion, so the eventual expansion to six courts – the number the school has today – came at a cost.“We took away half of the football team’s practice field and enough faculty parking for about 35 cars,” said Barnes. “I heard about that (at the initial faculty meeting that school year).”When the Titans had three courts, they held double practice sessions. Triple sessions were sometimes necessary depending on the size of the squad.“Some years,” Barnes said, “we had two JV teams.”Stevenson competed in the Eastern Michigan League when it added tennis.“We played fourth doubles in the EML,” Barnes said. “A group of us coaches from the EML pushed to add fourth doubles (at the state tournament level). The state adopted it a few years after that.”Stevenson moved in 1980 from the EML to the Macomb Athletic Conference, which continued to add schools and was later renamed the Macomb Area Conference. The MAC today has 36 schools, 26 of which sponsor boys tennis.Bates understands the draw coaching has for someone like Barnes.“It gets in your blood,” Bates said.L’Anse Creuse wins despite Stevenson’s Buzdugan singles masteryStevenson’s No. 1 singles player is Daniel Buzdugan, who won his first seven matches of the season. Now an 11th-grader Buzdugan didn’t lose to a Macomb County opponent when he played 2 singles in 2022, and he continued the streak at 1 singles last season when he was named to the county Dream Team.Barnes looks forward to coaching Buzdugan to the end of his Titans career.“That would make it at least 51 years,” he said, “and maybe a couple more after that.”