As the first high school football season in 37 years kicks off without Jim Eurick on the sidelines, the longtime coach remains in the prep spotlight.
Eurick, who coached Chesaning, Saginaw Arthur Hill and Bay City Western to unprecedented heights, is heading to the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
He joins the 15-member Class of 2009 to be inducted on Sept. 20 at Central Michigan University.
Eurick went 71-52 at Western and 214-115 during his three-school head coaching career, fortifying him as one of the state's premier coaching talents.
He stepped down after leading Western to the Saginaw Valley League championship last fall. The Warriors open the 2009 season tonight at Midland Dow.
A story which published in December follows:
Lee Thompson
Bay City Times
It's pandemonium to the left and hysteria to the right.
Every which way, this place - this football stadium they proudly call the Corn Field - is rocking.
Fourth-quarter drama has unleashed the mayhem in everybody once again.
And in the middle of it all stands the man who brought this moment about. He brought enthusiasm, fervor and passion to Bay City Western football and demanded the desire, dedication and drive that put the Warriors in this big game and in this tension-filled fourth-quarter situation.
And so, in this make-or-break moment that has all others in hysterics, he does not break a sweat nor bat an eye.
Jim Eurick knows his Warriors will win.
"It would be crazy on the field, but when he'd get us huddled up around him, he would be so calm and so confident, " said 2005 Western graduate Clay Harpham. "And we'd believe everything he said because he had gotten us that far."
Indeed, Eurick brought Western football a long, long way.
Forever a program with little direction, he put it firmly on course, turning the Warriors from also-rans to perennial contenders in the Saginaw Valley League. They became a team that could burn foes with an efficient offense, aggressive defense and opportunistic special teams.
And, above all, they became a team nobody wanted to mess with in the fourth quarter.
As the 58-year-old Eurick steps away - announcing his retirement this month after 12 years, 71 wins, six playoff berths and three league championships at Western - he leaves a unique legacy fitting of a unique man.
A man who could put his boys in position to succeed, then will them to do so.
Right man for the job
A standout player at Saginaw High, Eurick jumped right into his coaching career after graduating from Central Michigan University.
After four years as an assistant at Bridgeport, he made his head coaching debut at Chesaning High School. For nine years he directed the Indians, going 57-28 with two playoff berths and four league titles.
That earned him a call from his hometown, where he guided Saginaw Arthur Hill for 12 mostly glorious seasons. He went 86-35 during his stay, taking the Lumberjacks to the top with the 1991 state championship and the 1992 state runner-up.
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