The decision wasn't an easy one for Mick Stefanek.
After 11 years as head basketball coach at Marian and a combined total of 17 years coaching in the Colts' program Stefanek recently decided to resign from the position.
"It was a number of little things," said Stefanek about his reason for stepping down. "It wasn't any one major thing, but when I added up all the little things I came to the conclusion that it was time.
"Part of the reason was my health. I lost 27 pounds last season. I was dealing with a lot of self-imposed stress. I put pressure on myself to win. We had a talented team that was suppose to win and I knew that. There was no outside pressure, It all came from within."
The Colts did win, compiling the best year of Stefanek's tenure. Marian went 23-6 this past season, capturing its third straight Schuylkill League Division title and its first District 11 championship since 1999.
"The program is in great shape," said Stefanek. "That is something that probably made this decision easier. I'm not bailing on the kids or the school. Whoever takes over the program will have a chance to do some nice things."
Stefanek will leave Marian as the school's all-time winningest coach. He finishes with a career record of 165-124. He passed legendary Colt coach Hugh "Wink" Gallagher's total of 149 wins during the past season. Stefanek led Marian to the District 11 playoffs in 10 of his 11 years at the helm. In four of those seasons the Colts advanced to the PIAA State Tournament, including this past season when they beat Millville in the opening round before being eliminated by Girard College.
"It's nice, but it was never a goal of mine," said Stefanek about the record. "When I look back on my time here, it will never be about the wins or the championships. It will be about the relationships that I was able to establish with the players I coached and all the great people associated with Marian High School. I've really enjoyed my 17 years here. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely emotional when I think about all the great times I have had and all the outstanding people I've shared them with."
Stefanek had the second longest tenure of any current boys basketball coach in the TIMES NEWS coverage area. Only Pleasant Valley's Ken Piontkowski, who just completed his 12th year in charge of the Bears' program, has been coaching longer.
"I have had the pleasure of working for two outstanding people during my years at Marian [Principal] Sister Bernard Agnes and [Athletic Director] Stan Dakosty," said Stefanek. "I can't say enough about how well they have treated me and what great individuals they are. I couldn't have asked for a better situation than to have those two people as my bosses.
"I also want to thanks John Patton, who has been with me as an assistant for all 11 years I've been head coach, and all the other assistants I have had over the years. I've been blessed to have great people around me and they all played a huge role in those 165 victories."
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For all the posters (posers?) that have blasted a belittled Coach Stefanek. Take another look at the man and what he has done for Colts Basketball. He took over a good team and made it a better team. His aim has always been to develope the players into better young men. To develope their skills and raise their confidence. Not for the greater honor a gloty of Couch Stefanek. There have been many great coeches, at Marian, over the years and Coach Stefanek stands tall among them.
I must agree with the opinion that it is overdue.
In my opinion, the primary purpose of a high school coach is to aid in preparing young personalities and characters for the challenges of adulthood, which frequently begin with a college education. Sadly, I believe that is not usually the case in America, including this case at Marian. The reason is a simple extension of the expression “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. As the more educated reader will know, this expression originated as a quotation from Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
I believe from my own high school experience (not Marian) that the primary motive of coaches is often simply to win and enhance his or her reputation, often at the expense of what is best for the team members and their futures. While this is expected behavior for a professional coach, or possibly even a University coach where large amounts of money are involved, or even an extra-curricular sports camp, I think that this should not be the case for high school coaching. Ironically, the coaching at extra-curricular sports camps is often far more professional, objective, and less self-serving than high school coaching.
I believe that poor coaching behavior is often more extreme in a small town, where a coach can achieve local fame, magnified by the local media, and influencing the local small-town politics. In my opinion, coaches can become mini-Ceasars, or using a more contemporary phrase, “big fish in little ponds”. The coach can eventually influence small-town politics and the small-town local media.
Since the reputation of schools benefits from the performance of its sports teams, I believe that the schools are often tempted to turn a blind eye to unacceptable or self-serving behavior of coaches, provided that there are no legal repercussions. One potential manifestation of a school turning a blind eye is favoritism towards some families over others. This is not unheard of in small town politics. Of course, Marian is a Catholic school, the Marian “family”, so that couldn’t possibly happen there, could it?
I am familiar with basketball coaching at its best, and at a variety of levels. I have seen nothing of the like at Marian. Indeed, I have observed coaching behavior at Marian that in my opinion was frequently amateurish and occasionally blatantly unprofessional. It is also my opinion that the team’s record is far more a reflection of the players than the coaching.
I am not the relative of any Marian student, and so I believe that my observations are as objective as possible. The coach stated “When I look back on my time here, it will never be about the wins or the championships. It will be about the relationships that I was able to establish with the players I coached and all the great people associated with Marian High School.” Forgive me, but based on what I have observed and things that I have heard, I find that extremely hard to believe, and it is my opinion that the truth is quite the contrary. But that is only my opinion, which in America, I hope that I am still free to express.
It's a shame that it has taken this long for this to happen. If only it would have occurred 11 years ago then maybe the Marian basketball program would have had some more success. I know for sure that a lot of basketball careers would have been prolonged and many more players would have been able to enjoy their career as a Colts player. Thank you Coach Stefanick for finally realizing what we have all known for so long now and for giving the future of the program a chance.
That's a bit unfair.