Malec has right stuff for Andrew

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:46PM

There are a few ways a high school can go about finding a new coach.

One is the way of Homewood-Flossmoor, which went on a nationwide search to find a football coach in 2007 only to hand the job to someone practically in its own back yard in Kenneth Smith.

As it turned out, Smith should have said, "thanks, but no thanks" to H-F and remained at Crete-Monee.

In three years time, after compiling a 14-18 mark, he was shown the door.

I can't say for certain whether H-F had another nationwide search when it replaced Smith a year ago, but at least his successor, Craig Buzea, hailed from another state, Indiana.

All kidding aside, at least H-F didn't limit itself to in-house candidates when trying to find the right man. True, the Vikings swung and missed with Smith, who wasn't ready to oversee a program as massive as H-F. But H-F has hit a home run with Buzea, who arrived from Michigan City and led the Vikings to within a game of the Class 8A state title game.

The other hiring practice is to follow the predictable lead of District 230, home to Andrew, Stagg and Sandburg: hire from within.

You know, reward a longtime assistant or lower level coach with the top job.

There is nothing wrong with performing a job search that way - as long as you're truly hiring the best man for the job. It builds morale among the other coaches who see hard work being rewarded.

That's precisely what Andrew did when it named Jim Malec its new football coach.

He's coached at various levels of Andrew's football program for 17 years, the last five as an assistant on the varsity.

He was head coach at the sophomore and freshman levels at Andrew.

He's persistent. When Mike O'Neill retired after the 2005 season, Malec applied for the job. He didn't get it. Jim Zimmer did.

Zimmer resigned abruptly this past season. Malec applied again.

He won out over nearly 30 applicants.

"Jim has a great personality that will be able to work with everyone," Andrew athletic director Rich Piatchek said. "He believes every kid can get better."

I've known Malec, married father of two daughters (Gabby 9, Kami 5), a long time. He's a nice guy. The type of guy any father would be honored to have his daughter marry.

He's soft spoken, reserved.

As a person, Malec is impossible not to like.

I've had Andrew fans ask me if he's the right man for the job.

My response?

It depends on what your definition of the "right man" is.

If it's someone whose top priority is to mold young men into better people with high values, work ethic and morals, Malec is that guy.

If the "right man" is someone who lives and breathes high school football, whose top priority is advancing Andrew to its first-ever state championship game, Malec is not the "right guy."

"The one thing I'm going to try and do is consistently coach the kids up and teach them to be responsible citizens," Malec said. "We want to have a program the kids, coaching staff and community can be proud of. We strive to stay true to our goals and mission. To teach teamwork, a strong work ethic and values. If we can do that, I don't think we can go wrong."

And if the Thunderbolts can remain committed to Malec's mission statement and qualify for the playoffs more times than not, the 44-year-old should enjoy a career at Andrew that will take him right into his golden years.

Mike O'Neill did it at Andrew. Mike Navarro at Sandburg.

Neither coach ever sniffed a state championship game, but both produced successful teams on an annual basis.

"Developing kids into fine, young adults is important," Malec said. "Winning is nice. We would love to consistently compete for conference championships every year."

I asked Malec, who was a sophomore football player at Reavis when the Rams won a state championship in 1982, if Andrew, with the Tinley Park Bulldogs and Orland Hills Knights feeder programs developing talent, can ever win a state championship.

"Huh, I don't know," he said. "It's pretty darn tough. Would we love to? Yes, like everybody else. But I hope it's not the only measuring stick to be successful. Doing things the right way and teaching kids the right things to do are extremely important."

He is right, of course. Winning a state championship is extremely difficult. You have to have the talent, coaching staff and some luck. Maybe Andrew's luck is about to change under Malec.

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