Mike Poehlein was a track and cross country standout during his time as a student at Oakland City College, graduating in 1961. He then went on to a storied career as a coach, leading numerous high school, college, professional, and Olympic teams.

His coaching career began at Royal Center High School in 1961, where he was the head track and cross country coach, as well as an assistant boy's basketball coach, which consolodated into Pioneer High School.

He then moved to Highland, in Lake County Indiana, in 1966, where he coached for seven years. While at Highland High School, his track teams compiled a record of 78 wins and only one loss, including 12 sectional championships in track and cross country. He coached two individual state cross country champions, three individual state track champions, as well as a team runner-up in the 1969 Indiana State Cross Country Championship. He also coached the first high schooler in the world to high jump over seven feet.

In 1973, coach Poehlein accepted the position as the head men's track and cross country coach at Purdue University, positions he held until 2004. In 2001, he also became the head women's cross country coach.

During his tenure with the Boilermakers, he served as the Vice President of the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country, two terms as President of the USA Cross Country Association, two terms as President for the NCAA Cross Country Association, as well as serving on the board of directors for the USA Track Coaches Association.

Poehlein was a five-time Big 10 Coach of the Year in track and cross country, coaching 31 athletes who earned All-American honors a total of 53 times.

He served as a consultant for the South Korean Olympic Federation from 1983-1988, was the head coach for the USA North Region in the 1986 Olympic Festival, the assistant coach for the Good Will Games in 1990, and the head coach for the 1997 Junior Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. He was an assistant coach for the USA in the Pan African Games, 

Following his retirement from Purdue University, Poehlein returned to Oakland City University, serving as the head men's and women's cross country coach at his alma mater for five years, from 2004-2009. 

After retiring from his time coaching the Mighty Oaks, he began coaching individual runners in local schools, mainly with the Frankfort Middle and High School teams. 

Poehlein earned his master's degree from Indiana State University in 1967. He was a level two teacher with the USATF and was on staff at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, then in Chula Vista, California.

In 1986, Poehlein was named the Oakland City University Alumnus of the Year. In 1990, he was named to the Drake Relays Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he was inducted into the Indiana High School Track and Field Hall of Fame. He has lived an active lifestyle, having not missed a single day of running since June of 2013.