Replies

[Southsider2k12]

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/613986...ick-around.html

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

New football coach at Michigan City. Really excited about the gig. Sees unlimited potential in the “sleeping giant.” Plans to stick around and really build something at Ames Field.

Sound familiar?

Craig Buzea said all that in 2007 when he stunned Portage by leaving for the downtrodden Wolves. After three years and some significant progress, he left for Homewood-Flossmoor, and the program once again was in tatters.

Eric Schreiber said all that last summer when he took over for Buzea. One season and one win later, he left to take the top job at Hammond High.

Enter Michael Karpinski, Michigan City’s new head coach, who was approved last week by the school board. He’s really excited about the gig. He sees unlimited potential in the “sleeping giant.” He plans to stick around and really build something at Ames Field.

And he means it. Honest.

“I’m excited to add some stability,” he said. “I’m not planning on going anywhere. By no means am I looking at this as a stepping stone. I’m looking to build something here. I understand people have heard that before, but you don’t understand — my wife will kill me if we move again.”

Indeed, Karpinski’s no nomad. He’s no football mercenary. Heck, he only went after this job because he lost his teaching job at Franklin Central during a reduction-in-force that gutted the school district. The 43-year-old spent the last eight years coaching at Franklin Central — a former powerhouse that won four state championships between 1980 and 1990, but has fallen on hard times lately. After six years as an assistant, he was the head coach the past two years, going 7-13 with a pair of close losses in sectional openers.

Before that, Karpinski coached for six years at the University of Indianapolis, where he wound up after playing cornerback at Hillsdale College. Hillsdale is about 90 miles from his hometown of Hastings, Mich., where he was a high school quarterback.

Moving to Michigan City brings him much closer to home — and gives him a teaching job and an exciting opportunity.

“I just feel real blessed to be right here,” he said.

The Wolves can only hope he sticks around and helps the moribund program (no conference or sectional titles since Rogers and Elston were consolidated in 1995) realize the potential it briefly showed under Buzea.

After just four practices, Karpinski has been particularly impressed with the enthusiasm the players have for the game, for him and for his new system.

It’s easy to assume that the Wolves would be jaded and cynical while dealing with yet another new coach making the same old promises.

But Karpinski was thrilled to find that they’re not like that at all.

“I sure haven’t noticed it,” he said. “They sure haven’t shown it if that’s the case. They’ve been working their tails off and have done everything I’ve asked of them. I’ve come in with a lot of enthusiasm, and they seem to have responded.”

Karpinski made a good impression with his first practice. Rather than the usual morning workout, he brought his team to Ames Field — probably the coolest football stadium in the region — under the lights on Monday night. And while it took more than a half hour just to teach the kids how to warm up and break the huddle — “baby steps,” Karpinski said — things quickly came together.

He introduced the players to his offense — a traditional power-I. Not as complicated as Buzea’s multiple-set spread offense, not as one-dimensional as Schreiber’s option.

“It’s basic football,” Karpinski said. “In today’s game, it seems like a lot of coaches try to get too cute. We’re going to come out and run the football, be physical, and we’re really going to stress blocking and tackling — shoot, that’s usually what it comes down to. We’re going to play power football, fire off the ball and really be physical out there.”

Karpinski insisted he’s not daunted by the enormity of the task, trying to wake up the sleeping giant. But he’s got his work cut out for him. The football program always has taken a backseat to basketball. And the relentless losing has made it even tougher to convince kids to come out for the team. Karpinski said he’s ready for all of that.

He also said he’s not intimidated by the meatgrinder that is the Duneland Conference, a brutal schedule that makes rebuilding difficult — and painful. He knows the drill; at Franklin Central, he played state powers Lawrence Central, Pike and Columbus North every year.

“I just know it’s an unbelievable conference, and I’m excited,” Karpinski said. “I’m ready for the challenge.”

Heard that before, too, right? Every coach has said that. But the hard truth is nobody in the 16-year history of Michigan City High School has proven to be up to that challenge. Not for any extended period of time, at least.

Will Karpinski be any different? He sure seems to think so. But, of course, it’s too early for anyone to tell.

He won’t really get a feel for how well his new players can handle his system until they put on the pads in August. And the Wolves won’t really get a feel for Karpinski until they sweat their way through those two-a-days.

But Karpinski feels good about what he has. And while he knows these kids and this community have been burned before, he hopes the feeling is mutual.

“Kids are the same all over,” he said. “I think these kids are really looking for someone to step up and lead and fight for them. And I’m that guy.”

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...79352347652.txt

Strong staff crucial at City

By Adam Parkhouse
Home Cookin'
Published: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 5:43 PM CDT
Surely some of you wondered aloud or muttered to yourself when you saw the N-D make a “big deal” out of Jeff Karras joining the football staff at Michigan City High School.

If it seems like a lot of hoopla over an assistant coach, I suppose I could say that’s a fair statement. But this is a big deal, to me, and a great hire for first-year coach Michael Karpinski and the Wolves.

You see, head coaches get a lot of recognition in sports. They’re the respective heads of their programs and are the ones you turn to when things go wrong and praise when things go right.

But the reality is, many head coaches are only as good as the staffs behind them. Hiring a new coach you’re proud of and surrounding him with folks who aren’t also good at what they do doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Click here to find out more!
Think of it this way: Would you buy a 60-inch flatscreen television and then not order high-definition programming from your cable/satellite provider?

Well, you might. But you wouldn’t be getting the most out of your high-dollar purchase. You want that TV to be all it can be, so you order the HD programming and get the HDMI cables so that your television-watching experiences are at the pinnacle of what they can be.

Well, Karras is part of the HD package that Karpinski and MCHS administrators are installing as part of what they hope is the start of something new and great for City football. It’s necessary, really.

Go back to the Craig Buzea years when the Wolves were constantly making great strides in the right direction. Buzea had a lot to do with that, certainly. It was his plan and his vision for the program that was ultimately executed.

But he had some damn fine executioners to help him. Head coaching experience ran rampant on Buzea’s staff and it showed. The staff that Buzea employed, with guys like Tom Cicero and Bob Mattix and Dave Egofske were wholly important to those Wolves teams.

Guys like Karras and Karpinski’s father, Bill (who has also been brought on board), will similarly be able to help Karpinski do everything he wants to do with the Wolves. Karras comes from a tremendous football background. Heck, his name is synonymous with the sport in Northwest Indiana.

I got to see firsthand what Karras was capable of last year with South Central when he led the program to its first-ever sectional championship. He’s a talented motivator who also knows the X’s and O’s.

If Karpinski succeeds, he’ll certainly own a large portion of that success. But it will also be thanks to the people behind the scenes, working tirelessly and together to execute the overall vision.

So, yeah, this was a big deal for City football. It shows the program is once again headed in the right direction and I’m betting the fruits start to show immediately this fall.

Are you ready for some football? I sure am.