Executive Director
MARION â??? Marion
High School is a unique
place athletically. Few schools in Indiana
can boast sustained statewide excellence in both football and basketball. Even
fewer can claim legendary coaches in both sports.
Marion, however, can stake a claim in
both of those areas. In basketball, such giants â??? excuse the pun â???
as Bill Green and Jack Colescott have prowled the sidelines. In football, the
great Mark Surface led the Giants for the past 23 years.
Surface
announced his retirement during the 2006 season, and Marion began the search for a new football
coach for the first time since before the current players were born. The man
they found is more than used to big challenges.
Zach Shay
is ready to guide Marionâ??s
fortunes this coming autumn.
Take a
moment to consider the pedigree, and you will know the Giantsâ?? program is in
good hands. Shay is a native of Galesburg, Ill., and a graduate of the University of Iowa,
where he was a defensive back for the Hawkeyes. (It seems Division I athletics
were in his blood â??? his older brothers both played college basketball,
one at Iowa
and the other at Clemson.)
The big
question, though, is how one comes out of Galesburg
as a football player and coach. After all, in many ways Galesburg
is Illinoisâ?? basketball version of Marion: a storied
roundball community.
Needless
to say, Shay grew up dealing with pressure. He had to live up to both his
family legacy and that of his hometown. When he graduated, he obviously saw no
reason to take the easy route.
After a
couple of brief coaching stops at smaller places, he signed on as an assistant
at the University
of Georgia. (No pressure
there, unless you donâ??t mind being burned in effigy after a 7-4 season!) As you
might imagine, Shay finds filling the role at Marion a welcome task.
â??I would
rather have it this way than be at the other extreme,â? Shay said June 27 during
my visit with Marion Athletic Director Rocky Kent.
Marion fans are likely to see a couple of
changes from their charges. Though Shay is a pretty fundamental guy, the Iowa and Georgia
experiences left their mark on the new head man.
â??I think
there are two things you always have to do if you want to win football games,â?
Shay said.â? You better play defense, and be able to run the ball.â?
Sounds
like coachspeak, but you couldnâ??t miss the twinkle in his eye when he added: â??I
am familiar with the spread offense â??? we can throw it around the lot if
we need to.â?
Nonetheless,
the old days of Marion
scoring 38 and hoping that was enough are likely gone.
Shay has a
good foundation for that emphasis on defense. One of the returning starters for
the Giants is 6â??3â?, 235-pound middle linebacker Wade Brodt, who is garnering
several DI looks.
The offensive
side of the ball is where the rebuilding will have to occur, as Marion graduated 10
offensive starters. The one that remains, however, is a dandy. Tailback Sam
Trahan is among the best in Northern Indiana.
All in
all, Surfaceâ??s retirement will not be reason for the rest of the North Central
Conference to breathe a sigh of relief. Shay is poised to show folks that even
Giants can â??hunker down.â?
So
what do you
think? Share your thoughts on our Football message board.
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