Pack is Back: Longtime Coach Returns

Football

By Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com

September 18, 2020

MANCHESTER – Ben Pack never stopped being a coach. He just didn’t have a team for the past 18 years.

Pack stepped away as a football coach at Jackson High School in 2002, and other than a brief interim job in 2012, has not been on the sidelines since. But tonight, Pack is Back.

“When I got into coaching in the 1970s it was about the kids,” Pack said. “That’s the same reason I’m coming back.”

Pack was named head coach at Manchester in March. His season begins tonight when the Flying Dutchmen host Addison in a Cascades Conference opener.

It’s been a strange journey over the past few months. After he was hired, he had hoped to get into the Manchester halls and start looking to build the numbers for the Manchester football program, which has been down to around 35-40 players the last couple of seasons.

“When the Manchester job opened up, I applied and was hired in March,” Pack said. “Covid hit a week later. It’s been somewhat of a tailspin since. It’s nothing liked I had planned for.”

Not even the best planners could have predicted what 2020 has been like for high school football. But, when the season was brought back a few weeks ago, Pack and his colleagues from across the state went right to work. It’s a tough time to build a program.

“One of the Achilles we’ve been facing is low participation,” he said. “Trying to get the numbers up when school is not in session is very difficult. The players didn’t know me, I didn’t know them. I didn’t have any of their phone numbers or e-mail addresses. It was a struggle.

“I think if I would have been in the building, we could have resurrected those numbers to 45-50.”

Instead, Manchester is 37 kids strong playing high school football.

“The kids have done a fabulous job,” Pack said. “We’ve had a few hiccups, but we are young. About 30 of our kids have never stepped onto a varsity field. There are some good kids, but they don’t have any experience. I still expect them to do well. We coach them to do well. We’ve gone all in, and they’ve responded.”

Manchester is no stranger to the postseason or success. The Flying Dutchmen made the playoffs every year but once from 2003 to 2015. Last year they went 4-5. Pack is working in a new offense and modified defense as he embarks on his first season leading the program.

“Trying to get everything put into the game plan in eight or nine days is brutal,” he said. “But I love teaching kids the game of football. I love that part.”

Manchester is in Washtenaw County, about 20 miles from Pack’s hometown of Jackson. Pack was a three-sport athlete for Jackson High School before going on to Jackson Community College and, later, Central Michigan University.

He was coaching as soon as he became an adult, first as a volunteer. He was the head coach at Parma Western from 1983-1986, then coached 16 years at Jackson, from 1987 to 2002, leading the school to its first playoff appearances. He came back briefly in 2012 on an interim basis to coach Jackson. He was hired at the last minute, and the team went 0-9.

“The assistant superintendent tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘You have the experience. We need you to coach football,’” Pack said. “I did it, but everybody knew it was just for the year. We got through it.”

Pack has a career high school record of 75-119. He also was an assistant coach at Albion College for a short time. His most recent job as an assistant coach was at Parma Western after he retired from the classroom.

“I thought it was a good chance to get back into it,” he said. “I told my wife it was going to confirm if I really wanted to coach again. When you are a coach these days, it’s an all-in commitment. With the time commitment it takes, you really have to want to coach.”

Pack said he gave up coaching because of the opportunity to become an administrator, not because he didn’t have a passion for football.

"It was the right thing to do for my family,” he said. “I had to be a dad. I told my wife when I did it that as soon as I retired, I was going to get back into it.”

Pack said he missed it every day. His comeback begins tonight, but don’t expect a quick exit. He’s waited years to get back on the sidelines and is having a blast doing it.

“When I was out of coaching, I was still a coach,” he said. “I worked at it every single day in hopes that I would position myself to get back into it. I studied film. I was a habitual attender of college practices. I kept working on my playbook and schemes. I never stopped any of that. I worked on those things all of the time.”

Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTO: Manchester coach Ben Pack watches over his players as they stretch during practice this fall. (Photo by Doug Donnelly.)

Football

Dread Not: Jacobs Directing Dexter Rise

September 28, 2018

By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half

DEXTER – Dexter has long had outstanding football facilities, a large fan base and the support of school officials. What it hasn’t had in recent years is a winning football team.

With each passing week, however, it looks like that is about the change.

The Dreadnaughts enter tonight’s game at Tecumseh with a 3-2 record and legitimate chance to make a run at the MHSAA football playoffs over the next few weeks. What’s remarkable is Dexter is seeking its first appearance in the tournament, which began in 1975.

“The previous coaches were good guys,” said superintendent Chris Timmis. “They tried hard to get things going. Sometimes it’s about timing.”

The timing right now has a lot to do with the arrival of head coach Phil Jacobs. The Adrian native spent nearly two decades on the Maples staff, including 11 seasons as head coach. He stepped down as the head coach after the 2014 season and spent two seasons as an assistant at Siena Heights University, before he was brought into the Dexter fold by Timmis, his former boss at Adrian.

“It took a lot of persuasion,” Timmis said.

Jacobs called it a “full-court press” to lure him back. Whatever it was, it looks like a successful move for Dexter.

“I was confident it would be,” Timmis said. “What I knew about Phil from when I was superintendent and principal at Adrian was he is a fantastic teacher. When we were working on a lot of academic improvement, Phil had a model classroom. I knew what he could bring to us was a lot more than just a football coach.”

Dexter was looking to hire a football coach a couple of years ago when Timmis made a short list of coaches from across the state that had rebuilt programs. Jacobs was on the list but wasn’t interested in coaching himself. Dexter made a hire, but it was short-lived. That coach left after only a short time on the job.

Timmis called up Jacobs.

“I told him I wanted to talk to him again,” he said. “I think it was meant to be.”

Jacobs came on board in late April and started working with the Dreadnaughts players, getting them into the weight room in particular. Dexter went 0-9 in 2017, but as the season went on, Jacobs and others saw progress.

“He was putting the pieces together,” Timmis said.

Dexter began this season with a 41-game losing streak and lost the season opener. In Week 2, however, Dexter pulled out a 36-22 win over Ypsilanti Community to break the streak. The next week the Dreadnaughts won again, this time a 37-14 win over Ann Arbor Huron. In Week 5, they topped Adrian, 42-30, as junior receiver Antwan Ficklen caught six passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns to lead Dexter to the win. Sophomore quarterback Colin Parachek threw for more than 300 yards and ran for a couple of touchdowns.

The Dreadnaughts aren’t just winning – they are exciting. Through five games, Dexter is averaging 30.8 points per game.

That Adrian win leaves Dexter with regular-season games against Tecumseh (2-3), Pinckney (1-4), Ypsilanti Lincoln (4-1) and Whitehall (3-2). Win three, and the team is automatically in the playoffs.

Jacobs points to three differences with this season’s Dexter team. For one, the players’ commitment to the weight room is paying off.

“We are stronger. With strength comes confidence,” Jacobs said. “We are nowhere near where we want to be or can be, but we are headed in the right direction.”

Another difference is the players’ football knowledge is growing. With each week of practice, each week of repetition, Jacobs said the players are learning more about the game.

“Our football I.Q. is so much better than last year,” Jacobs said. “Last year, we were yelling things from the sidelines on every play, ‘get here,’ ‘get there.’ This year, we aren’t doing that as much. Our kids are learning. They speak our terms now.”

Lastly, Jacobs said having enough numbers so that his players are starting on only one side of the ball has paid huge dividends.

“In the third and fourth quarters, they are fresh,” he said. “They are learning one position. Plus, when you get your athletes playing on only one side of the ball, it frees them up to play special teams. You find creative ways to get your best kids on the field.”

Dexter’s most recent winning season was a 5-4 finish in 2010. The Dreadnaughts have had two winning seasons total during their players’ lifetimes.

“It’s great to see the kids believe in themselves,” Timmis said. “The whole community is feeling it right now.”

Dexter athletic director Mike Bavineau said the school and community are excited about the football team. There’s a buzz in the halls and at the Dexter field on Friday nights.

“The kids are excited, everyone is excited,” he said. “When you can win a little bit, it breeds confidence.”

PHOTOS: (Top) Dexter coach Phil Jacobs gives his players some pointers on the sideline. (Middle) Quarterback Colin Parachek works to elude a pair of Ann Arbor Huron defenders. (Below) Students fill the stands to support the Dreadnaughts. (Photos by Terry Jacoby.)

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