Olsons team up at Maine East

There was an early test of Glenn Olson's authority as the new Maine East boys varsity basketball coach.

The former Rolling Meadows basketball and baseball standout was in one of his first games in charge.

And an assistant with three decades of coaching experience was expressing his opinions toward the officials a bit too vociferously.

Olson wasted no time in responding.

"I was talking to my older brother (Don Jr.) and I said, 'It's kind of cool that I get to tell dad (Don Sr.) to shut up,'" Olson said with a laugh, "and he listened."

It's not easy for Don Olson to always bite his tongue.

He admits the back-and-forth with the men in blue or stripes was one of his favorite parts of a coaching career that started in Griffith, Ind., in the mid-1960s and took him to Maine West, Maine North and Maine East before his retirement as a head baseball coach in 1994.

But now that his son has risen to a top job in his profession he'll do whatever he's asked. Even if it's something that might have brought strict repercussions when Glenn Olson was younger.

"Now it's his time and I've got a different role, and it's an enjoyable role," said Don Olson, who is a member of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. "Like old (Cardinals manager, coach and player) Red Schoendienst used to say, 'Give me a double-X jacket and wake me up in the seventh and let me know if there's anything important."

Not just along for the ride

Don't think Glenn Olson gave his dad some ceremonial role just to keep him busy. Not only did Don Olson play baseball for one of the greatest coaches in state history at Oak Park-River Forest in Jack Kaiser, but he played basketball and football there before graduating in 1960.

And when Glenn Olson was promoted last spring after six years as an assistant at Maine East, he thought of how guys such as Harvey Foster in baseball at St. Viator and Jim Sullivan in basketball at Schaumburg stayed involved after they were head coaches.

"He's so involved in everything that it hit me, why not use this amazing resource?" Olson said of his dad, who was always a fixture at basketball and baseball games coached by his son. "Guys aren't lining up to come to Maine East right now and I have a guy in the family who brings so much experience and knowledge to the table.

"There's no doubt I wanted to bring him on board. I wanted to be able to do this with my dad."

Don Olson also was a head football coach but had limited experience coaching basketball. He's the first to admit he leaves the X's and O's to his son and assistant George Drase.

But Don Olson doesn't just show up when it's convenient. He was with the team all summer and is at practice every day.

He knows it's a necessity if anything he preaches will be taken seriously when it matters most.

"If I'm going to do something … I couldn't do that," Olson said. "If was going to work with him, I'm not going to be just 'show game.'

"I enjoy being there and I also have a responsibility to be there. If I'm a weekend warrior it's not going to work."

And Glenn Olson said his dad's knowledge and effusive personality is a big plus.

"He's a wonderful guy to bounce things off of," Glenn said. "He's in the baseball hall of fame because of he relationships he had with kids."

But what about adding game strategy?

"He doesn't want (Dahni) Wilson or (Avery) Roche to come off the floor," Olson laughed about his dad and two of Maine East's top players. "He gets mad when those things happen.

"But I'll be on a kid (in practice) and dad will go over and pat him on the butt."

Sustaining a family tradition

Glenn Olson was a bat boy and a ball boy in football for his dad at Maine East.

Olson went on to set a Meadows record that still stands for 3-point shooting with 99 as a senior in 1993-94. He was a key part of a sectional baseball finalist as a tough second baseman.

But Olson wasn't sure if he wanted to go the same route as his dad, who also retired that spring after 13 seasons as Maine East's baseball coach.

Don Olson, who often sat as far as he could from the masses at games with old coaching pals such as the late Al Eck, also didn't know if he wanted his son to take a similar career path.

"For a couple of years I just didn't know if I wanted to go into education," Glenn said. "I never lost my love for athletics or competition."

So Glenn went to Western Illinois with the plan of, well, becoming a sports writer.

Wisely, a year before graduation he called his dad and mom Beth and said he wanted to go into teaching and coaching. Glenn went to Northeastern Illinois to pursue his new dream.

"I'm pleased as can be he's doing what he's doing," Don Olson said. "Down deep for a guy like that who loves the game like he does, this is a perfect job for him."

And there's no better place than where his dad worked.

East is best

When Glenn Olson was hired he split time between Maine South and Maine East. He learned a tremendous amount about running a program from working for Dave Inserra on the football staff at perennial power Maine South.

But there was a pull to the place his dad called his professional home for years.

"I just felt right at Maine East," Olson said. "This place gets in you. I love the Maine East kid.

"I'm really excited to come to work every day. I feel lucky to be here. I really do."

Maine East may be lucky Olson turned down an offer to become Mendota's head coach a couple of years ago.

Moving his wife Amy and his family -- they have a 3-year-old son Grant and a 9-month-old son Reid -- would have eliminated the chance to work with his dad.

But it's hardly work as Olson's passion for coaching and basketball were evident and reflected by his team's inspired and energetic play in a 76-52 win over Grant nearly two weeks ago.

Olson sat down for maybe 30 seconds. Afterward, Drase joked that he needs to eat more to regain the 30-plus pounds he's lost.

Olson just gets too worked up to eat much on game days -- just as he did when he was an athlete. But he believes he can succeed at a place where a lot of coaches would even be hesitant to try.

"Hopefully we get this thing rolling," Olson said as the Demons fell to 4-2 with a 3-point loss to Highland Park on Tuesday. "At this place kids love the game and basketball is kind of the showcase sport.

"I think kids are excited about being on the basketball team. These kids are aspiring to be part of something and we've got that commitment level."

And he's thrilled his dad is a big part of it, too.

"I think he feels somehow I can be of help to him so I was ready to do anything he felt could be of help to him," Don said. "He knows I still love the game of high school sports and enjoy the kids."

Especially his own.