Monaghan's coaching journey reaches another level
Pat Monaghan is not looking to be the next Tom Izzo or Mike Krzyzewski.
The former Fremd and Harper College basketball star has aspirations of becoming a college head coach at the Division II level. But Monaghan figures to learn if that's the right fit after a jump to an even higher level.
Monaghan is just a few weeks into his new job as Loyola's coordinator of basketball operations after two-year stints at Division II Wayne State College in Nebraska and junior college power Coffeyville in Kansas.
"It's probably about what I wanted to try to accomplish (timing-wise) as far as getting to Division I," said Monaghan, who played his last two years of college at Division II Lewis in Romeoville. "I'm happy with the opportunity to come back to Chicago and work for coach (Jim) Whitesell."
Monaghan just missed the chance to play for Whitesell, who left Lewis in April 2004 for Loyola. But Whitesell had recruited Monaghan and got to know him better as he started coaching.
And Monaghan was one of the first people Whitesell thought of for the basketball operations job after Glenbard West product Adam DeMong was promoted to a full-time assistant in late May.
"One thing I knew about Pat is he has a great work ethic," said Whitesell. "That always stuck in my head. I always liked that about him.
"Sometimes you look at a young guy doing an awfully good job and he was one of those guys you put in your memory bank. I was impressed with him."
Whitesell believes the equivalent of a Division I entry-level coaching job will help make an impression on where Monaghan wants to take his career path.
"The great thing about the job is it forces you to learn a lot of different things in the business," Whitesell said. "You really have to be on top of your game and put in a lot of hours. It's pretty time-consuming for these guys.
"You keep learning and keep getting better ... and a lot of guys in that position learn what they want to do."
The job doesn't allow Monaghan to do any off-campus recruiting or daily practice coaching but does allow for personal contact with Loyola players. He can be on the bench during games, and he will also handle film exchanges and breakdowns and taking care of travel plans.
Monaghan said there may also be times where he takes notes on practices and gives his impressions to Whitesell.
"I feel like my experiences as a player and coach the past four years will really help me for this job," Monaghan said.
Basketball has always been a big part of life for Monaghan and his family. His older brother Matt was an all-area player at Fremd, younger brother Zach is coming off an all-area junior season and his dad has been an AAU coach.
Pat said he always wanted to coach but wasn't sure at what level until he got to Lewis and played for then-head coach Kyle Green.
"That's what persuaded me to want to coach at the college level," Monaghan said. "Everything that goes with it - I want to be at the college level.
"I like working with those types of kids and being able to recruit those types of kids for your program."
Two weeks after graduating from Lewis he was off to Wayne State to become a graduate assistant for Rico Burkett.
All of which prepared him for his move to Coffeyville, regarded as one of the country's top junior college programs.
That set up his opportunity at Loyola and the latest step in Monaghan's career path.
"I have some goals I want to accomplish in this profession as far as getting to where I want to be," said Monaghan, who led Lewis in scoring at 14 points a game as a senior. "I really like that (Division II) level and see myself being a Division II head coach someday."
But he's not in any big rush and is ready to pay his dues at Loyola.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity given to me to be in this position," Monaghan said. "To learn the day-to-day operations of a Division I program, that is important. So when I move on to the next step, whenever that is ... it goes a long way."
Something Monaghan has already done in his short time in coaching.
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com