St. Viator’s Majkowski decides to step aside

Some coaches see what isn’t coming up in the way of talent and figure it’s the perfect time to get going.

Joe Majkowski viewed his situation a bit differently in the last few years as St. Viator’s boys basketball coach. He wasn’t blinded by the fact the program’s future looks as bright as ever with the combination of returning and incoming players.

Majkowski knew it was someone else’s time to lead the way. He told a few close confidants Monday and his team and some others Tuesday of the news that was officially announced Wednesday that he was stepping down after a successful 24-year run.

“Unfortunately at the end of the last two to three seasons, I really haven’t had the energy and enthusiasm a head coach needs,” Majkowski said Wednesday afternoon. “I think this is the right time to do it.”

The timing caught even some of those closest to him — such as assistant athletic director and head baseball coach Mike Manno — off guard.

“That’s a true statement across the board,” said Manno, a 1994 Viator graduate who played for and coached with Majkowski. “I had a tear in my eye when he said he was stepping down. It’s shocking news. Shocking news.”

Especially since there was no discernible decrease in passion for coaching by Majkowski. Particularly on game night — of which there were 647 during his Viator tenure, with 367 ending up on a winning note.

But there is much more to it than game nights. Especially in this era, where coaching certain sports such as basketball seems to be almost 24-7 all year long.

“Once the ball gets tossed up, you’ve seen me coach,” Majkowski said of his determination and demanding nature. “But at times I’d go to practice, and depending on how the day went and how work went, where it was tough.

“Thankfully I had a guy like (former player and assistant coach Mike) Howland. But I’m not the type of guy who can just say, let’s let the assistants to do it. That’s not fair to the program and if I’m going to be a part of this I have to put in my time.”

There are plenty of potential good times ahead with a strong group of returnees including all-area guards D.J. Morris and Kevin Walsh.

“Next year will probably be one of the better teams we’ve had with the sophomores and juniors combined,” Manno said. “The freshman class next year is supposed to be really good.”

But Majkowski said it didn’t influence his decision.

“I think the program is in really good shape,” Majkowski said. “Certainly there is the potential for some good teams to come through here the next few years.

“I would love to be a part of it, but if you don’t have the energy and enthusiasm, it doesn’t matter what the talent is.”

Giving it everything he has mattered to Majkowski because Viator is a place that has mattered so much for 34 years. When the Wheeling graduate was at North Park College and ready to do his student-teaching, his grade-school coach, Bill Probst, was an assistant at Viator and suggested he come there.

At the end of the spring he was offered jobs as an assistant to legendary football coach Jim Lyne and to head basketball coach Ron Cregier.

After six years as a junior high teacher, he went to the Viatorian school in Las Vegas, Bishop Gorman, to teach and coach. He was a varsity assistant on a state football champion.

“I thought I would be there forever,” Majkowski said.

It turned out to be just one year when there was an opening back at Viator. Eventually he succeeded Probst as the head basketball coach in 1987.

“I always respected how he got his teams to play hard,” said Manno, “and he’s been a great influence on my coaching career and how I deal with kids in my program.”

Having Majkowski in charge of the basketball program meant a great deal to Viator. He led four of its 20-win seasons and the school’s only boys basketball conference champion when it shared the East Suburban Catholic title in 1997.

There was a regional title in 2001 and the magical 2010 season with a school-record 24 wins and the program’s only sectional title. All of those moments evoked powerful emotions in Majkowski because of what they meant to so many from the Viator community.

“As word has gotten out I’ve got a lot of phone calls and e-mails, and it’s kind of cool,” Majkowski said as he was hit with another wave of emotion. “This has always been the right place for me in terms of values and personality. I’ve felt that for a long time.”

So for the first time in a quarter-century, as Viator athletic director Tim Carlson put it, “the sideline won’t be the same next year without Joe.”

The process of finding Majkowski’s replacement will begin shortly. He will stay at the school as the leader of the counseling department and the moderator of the peer mediation program.

And he’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife Nancy and experiencing life without practices, summer games, walk-throughs and scouting trips.

“He’s leaving the program to whoever gets it in really good hands,” Manno said.

Because Joe Majkowski knew it was time to leave it on the right terms.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com