Opinion

PENALTY SHOTS: The life and times of Mike Coffey

Posted February 22, 2017 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Editor@heraldtrib.com

It was late in the 2011 season when Mike Coffey made the announcement.

The Chester High School athletic director and then-freshman football assistant coach announced it would be his final season on the Yellow Jacket sideline.

As is sometimes the case with life, I appreciate him more now for what he does rather than six years ago.

I remember joking with him about starting a "one more year" chant, but he had his mind made up. He was, and still is, a great mentor to me and someone I admired greatly as I was cutting my teeth on the coaching ranks of CHS.

In the years that followed, I got to learn a little bit more about him and it will be hard to see CHS without him next year - the strong, purposeful gait, the Chester windbreaker at every home football game and that infectious smile.

Through our various interactions over the years, he has always sounded pleased to see me. Even though my occasionally-overbearing enthusiasm for getting quality opponents for the freshmen and bettering the football program didn't make it easy on him.

I would like to think that he, and much of the old guard of former coaches Bryan Lee, Dave Holder and Jim Howie, saw something in me when I became a Yellow Jacket in 2010. They were nurturing, supportive and friendly.

And they didn't have to be.

To this day, I have always tried to be appreciative, humble and thankful for the opportunity they gave me to be a Yellow Jacket coach. I made mistakes, I stumbled, I fell, but they helped me find my own path too.

And Coach Coffey - who will forever remain "coach" to me, never "Mr." - has his sense of humor, including turning the stadium lights out when I was in the middle of a video interview with football coach and now AD-elect Jeremy Blechle after the game.

In true epic fashion, Blechle and I just kept going - an interview that started with video and ended with radio.

Coffey teased me about that last Saturday as Senior Night festivities for the basketball Yellow Jackets came to a close.

And he was honored with the other seniors and their parents on Senior Night, getting his own flower and balloons along with the other graduates.

At some point soon, I'll come visit him to talk about his life and times of memories made and stories told - some probably not fit to print.

Personally, I feel the district owes him a debt of gratitude. Public education, in my view, seems to be becoming more transient in nature, and 12 years of service as athletic director - and more as a teacher - speaks to his commitment to Chester.

During the next several months, Coffey will be helping Blechle with the transition into the AD's role. He told me he has football officials already scheduled through the 2019 season, and is working on the same with baseball and softball umpires.

Arranging lower-level football games, which has become a struggle in recent years, will be up to Blechle.

I sincerely hope Coach Coffey enjoys his retirement. I'm sure it will include spending more time with his grandsons and watching his beloved Chicago Cubs.

And if anybody deserves walking out of CHS in May whistling "My Way," it's him.

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