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Oakridge's Schugars Always To Be 'Coach'

April 26, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Jack Schugars led five Muskegon Oakridge teams to MHSAA football championship games during his 32 seasons running the program. He finished his high school coaching career in 2010 with a record of 262-78. 

And of course, he impacted hundreds of lives in a community that, according to a former assistant, considers him a "saint."

Schugars was honored last week with the Duffy Daugherty Award for his outstanding achievements in high school football. Each spring, the Duffy Daugherty committee – made up of football supporters and media from the Lansing area – recognizes a high school coach along with a past or current college coach. The college award is among those recognized by the College Football Hall of Fame. 

Among previous high school honorees present to congratulate Schugars during Thursday's banquet in East Lansing were Farmington Hills Harrison’s John Herrington, Birmingham Brother Rice’s Al Fracassa and former East Lansing coach Jeff Smith. 

Schugars – now an assistant at Ferris State University – led his 1997, 2005 and 2008 teams to MHSAA titles, while his 1990 and 2003 teams finished MHSAA runners-up. He is a member of the Muskegon Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2009), the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2008) and the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1993). He received the MHSFCA’s highest honor, the Jim Crowley Award, in 2000.

The Schugars family is rooted in education. He also taught biology at the high school for 38 years, while his wife Julie taught English. Their daughter Amanda teaches in Battle Creek, and son Eric teaches and is the defensive coordinator at Traverse City Central. 

Below are brief excerpts from the introduction of Schugars by his former football assistant and current Oakridge softball coach Joe Coletta, followed by Schugars' closing words of wisdom.

‘Faith, Family, Football’

(Coletta) “To Jack, those are not just words of hollow meaning. They are his compass. 

“Jack has won countless awards for his accomplishments on the football field. He absolutely refused to let anyone outwork him or his teams in preparation for a football game.   

“But in my opinion, his strength as a football coach is his ability to take a kid that most people would give up on: a kid that some might label as no good, troublemaker, not worth the effort. He found a way to love the unlovable. 

“He would give those kids direction; he would mentor them to be young men and young women and take them to where they could not possibly take themselves.

"When you can do that for a person, you let them see their worth as a human being and make a lasting impact so you can change the rest of their lives. 

“That, to me, is what sets Jack apart from most coaches.”

What's most important

(Schugars) “The reason I'm on this Earth is to love the Lord your God with all my heart and soul and love your neighbors as yourself. 

“So when I speak at clinics, when I talk to coaches, I tell them the greatest thing they can do for their team is to love their players. 

“That is the greatest thing a coach can do. Love your players and be true role models each day. 

“I could not ask for a better career than when ... a (former) player in the Navy Seal team calls me Coach. Lawyers, doctors, bankers, they call you Coach. 

"Wow, that's a great word: Coach. That's what it's all about. Being a coach. Building relationships that will last a lifetime. 

"I love the hundreds of players that are part of the Oakridge football family. And I hope I continue to build men out of boys, continue at the college level."

PHOTOS: (Top) Former Muskegon Oakridge football coach Jack Schugars holds up the 2005 Division 5 championship trophy with his players after their victory at Ford Field. (Middle) Schugars (right, with headset) monitors his team's play on the field against Jackson Lumen Christi.

The Whole Body of Work

June 27, 2016

From time to time over the years, criticism has been leveled at the Michigan High School Athletic Association because an MHSAA publication cover lacked a certain number of photos of females or minorities, or a certain balance of large schools or small schools or nonpublic schools ...

My response has always been, “Don’t base your opinion on one cover. Look at the whole body of work. Look at the covers across all sports and an entire year.”

So, when there was recent criticism that our football practice policy wasn’t progressive enough, that it allows (in theory only) too much time for contact drills, my response is: Look at the entire body of work.

The MHSAA was one of the first states in the nation to limit contact in football practice, both preseason and regular season. Some states still do not.

Some of the states which appear to have more restrictive practice policies in the fall also allow football practice in the spring, which actually increases exposure to injury. Michigan does not.

Some states which appear to have more restrictive practice policies in the fall also allow contact at out-of-season football camps, which actually increases exposure to injury. Michigan does not – never has allowed its players to participate in contact drills at football camps, a policy to which some states are returning because of the safety concerns we’ve always had in Michigan.

Some states allow students to participate in five, six or even eight quarters of football games in a single week. In Michigan, students can play in one game only during any five day period, never two, and never part or all of a JV game one day and part or all of a varsity game another day during the same week. That’s been Michigan’s rule for decades, and some states are finally moving in that direction.

  • The MHSAA is the first and only state to provide concussion care gap insurance at its own cost to assure all students have prompt and professional medical attention without the worry of unpaid medical expenses. This is for all students in all levels of all sports, practice and competition, grades 6 through 12.

  • The MHSAA conducts the nation’s largest high school association managed sideline concussion detection pilot program.

  • The MHSAA conducts the nation’s broadest and deepest high school association managed concussion reporting system.

There is still more to the whole body of work – but the point is made. Criticism of the MHSAA for lack of attention to participant safety – in football or any other sport – is wholly unjustified.