Mendon Coach Takes Reins from Mentor
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
September 6, 2016
It wasn’t the right time for an interview because John Schwartz didn’t want to be the center of attention. Besides, he had said all he wanted to say in February when he announced his retirement.
More than anything else, just a few minutes prior to the Mendon varsity football team opening the 2016 season against Bridgman, he wanted to address his attire.
Swiftly moving through the parking lot toward his car, Schwartz looked up, made eye contact with me, and his voice boomed through a shop broom of a mustache, “I put my shirt on backwards.”
Of course he did. His routine was off after more than four decades.
Schwartz exchanged pleasantries as he stood bare-chested about 30 parking spaces from the entrance to the field named after him. He checked to make sure the tag of his T-shirt was at the back of his neck this time.
We walked back to the stadium and talked about his kids and his grandchildren, whom he adores, and for whom, along with his wife, he retired from the game he treasures. When he turned in his letter of retirement to the Mendon school board in February at the age of 66, he said it was time to make more time for them.
He then climbed the bleachers to the press box, where he plans to watch the Hornets and provide advice when requested. Of all places, most of our interaction these days is on Facebook, where he’s quick to like a family photo.
I never took John Schwartz, a man who enjoys crafting things out of wood in his spare time, for a social media fan. But I learned over the years he’s full of surprises.
For a long time, Schwartz boasted the all-time best winning percentage in Michigan prep history. At the end of the 2014 season, his record at Mendon was 269-43 for a .862 percentage. That would have been a good time to retire. He knew, however, the Hornets were in for a rough 2015 season with low numbers in terms of bodies, and, as it turned out, victories. Mendon went 5-5, making his career record 274-48 and his winning percentage .851 — second all-time behind former Schoolcraft coach Larry Ledlow (.853).
He took one for the team.
It’s Bobby Kretschman’s team now, and you’re not going to find anyone in the small town of Mendon who would disagree with Schwartz concerning Kretschman’s worthiness to continue a tradition that includes 13 MHSAA championships — 10 of which were with Schwartz at the helm.
Kretschman, a former star linebacker for the Hornets and an assistant coach with the program for 10 years, was groomed for this role. In the same week in March when his first child, Connor, was born, Kretschman officially accepted the job.
Ranking third all-time in program history with 360 career tackles, including 11.7 stops per game as a senior on the 2005 Division 8 championship team, Kretschman fully understood the significance of becoming the school’s 23rd head coach.
“I’m excited,” he said at the time. “It’s going to be fun. We’re replacing a legend here. This is why I went into coaching and teaching. I didn’t think it was actually going to be at Mendon.”
The Hornets are 1-1 this season under his watch, with a loss to an excellent Cassopolis team in Week 2. But after the Hornets topped the Bridgman Bees in Kretschman’s debut, the new ball coach sounded an awful lot like the old one.
He asked the players gathered around him in the west end zone if they wanted to win a state title this year — perhaps a reach to some after Mendon went .500 last fall. They all believe they can. So did every kid who put on the green jersey since 1989.
Schwartz would always tell you that the Mendon staff coached the kids the same from the Rocket level to varsity. The plays, the verbiage and the expectations were consistent.
And it was all underscored by a sense of responsibility.
“There’s a great sense of pride at Mendon and I’ll be damned if that’s going to be lost,” Kretschman said. “That’s why you want to put the time into things and make sure you’re putting the best product out there you can. Your name is on it and you want it to be done right.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTO: Former linebacker Bobby Kretschman takes over the Mendon program this season from longtime coach John Schwartz. (Photo by Wes Morgan.) VIDEO courtesy of JoeInsider.com.
Officials Sharpen Skills at MHSAA Clinic
June 28, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half Editor
ALMA --Frequently in pairs, they lined up beside linebackers, ran the sidelines and monitored the goallines earlier this week, next to many of Michigan's best recently-graduated high school football players.
The athletes were practicing for Saturday's Michigan High School Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at Alma College. But beside and all around them, officials also worked to hone their skills with the upcoming season only two months away.
A group of 34 attended the MHSAA's summer clinic Monday and Tuesday, run in coordination with the all-star game for the second year. Some were veterans brushing up on new rules, while others -- like Flushing's Tim Collick -- were newer officials hoping to pick up some knowledge from 12 clinicians providing instruction and feedback.
"The biggest thing is just the different tips from experienced guys you don't find in the books," said Collick, 32, who was one of 14 chosen from clinic participants to officiate Saturday's game. "Different, helpful clues like keys that made them successful, made things easier for them."
Instructors shadowed Collick and other participants during two practices and a Monday night scrimmage, providing guidance and feedback along the way.
Those practice sessions are combined with classroom instruction, similar to what the MHSAA has conducted during previous summers with basketball officials at Michigan State University camps.
Every participant this week came from the Lower Peninsula, but as far north as just below Mackinac Bridge, east from Detroit and west from the Grand Rapids area.
Two crews of seven officials were chosen from the camp participants to work Saturday’s game. The crews will alternate quarters, with five instructors also on hand to provide feedback.
The MHSFCA has been putting on the All-Star Game for 32 years, and has been a fantastic partner in providing an opportunity football officials don't often receive during the offseason, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl said.
"Football is unique in that there isn't a way to get live reps, while basketball, baseball and softball have summer team camps," Uyl said. "This is an opportunity for football officials to get training in the real thing."
Collick, a Flint Hamady grad who has been mentored by longtime Flint-area official Tom Rau, is heading into his third season of football as a back judge with a crew from the Genesee County Coaches and Officials Association. Although he'd heard a few of the speakers at the clinic before, he didn't know any of the officials before Monday. But he was sure to soak up as much as possible, with an eye on officiating for years to come and eventually, perhaps, at the college level as well.
"For me, one of the biggest things (at the clinic) is getting to make contacts with much more veteran officials. I'm learning from those guys," Collick said. "The instructors have worked at high levels as college officials, as high school officials for many years. It's nice to pick their brains."
PHOTOS: (Top) Longtime official and recently-retired MHSAA assistant director Tom Minter (center) works with an official during Tuesday morning's East practice at Alma College. (Middle) MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl (left) points something out to an official during the West practice. (Bottom) Officals at this year's clinic came from all parts of the Lower Peninsula, including the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Mackinaw areas.
