By Dan Cleary

3/28/2008 - Wallkill's VanZile Set to Retire (Exclusive to MugsMedia.com)

Mike Van Zile was getting a little antsy. The veteran head football coach was enjoying a fine run at Passaic Valley Regional High School in Little Falls and was just two years removed from leading the Hornets to a section title.

But something inside told him it was time to look for a new challenge, so after the 1988 season he decided to do something about it.

“Things were going well, but you start to get a little stale, so I started to put out some feelers,” recalled Van Zile, a former standout football player at Butler High School and Montclair State College, which is now Montclair State University.

“I got a call from (Butler football coach) Bobby Jones and he told me that Wallkill Valley was looking for a head coach,” Van Zile continued. “Sparta was also looking for a coach and I interviewed for both jobs, but I felt real comfortable at Wallkill and I stayed for 19 years, so that says a lot about how I feel about Wallkill Valley.”

And after a very successful near two-decade run at the Hardyston school, which included seven years as the head football coach (1989-1995) and the last 14 as the athletic director, Van Zile, the hardest-working AD in the business, has decided to hang up his whistle and retire to spend more time with his family effective at the end of the school year in June.

“It is time,” said Van Zile, who started his coaching and teaching career at West Milford in 1972 and coached the Highlanders until 1981. “This is my 35th year and I would like to have more time for myself and my family, especially my grandchildren. It is hard to describe, but you know when it is time.

“But I have had a great career in education and I have no regrets,” he added. “I’m going to miss all the people and kids I’ve worked with. We have great coaches here at Wallkill and they are also great teachers who make a difference. I can’t say enough about them and the job they do, which makes it tough to leave. But it is time to turn the page and move on and start a new challenge.”

Van Zile’s letter of resignation was accepted by the Wallkill Valley Regional High School Board of Education this week. The school has begun a search to replace Van Zile, said Joseph DiPasquale, Wallkill’s superintendent. The search will start internally, said DiPasquale.

“He has been an excellent administrator and very much on-task,” said DiPasquale. “He is a quality individual and first class in all aspects. He has done a lot for the school.”

Van Zile said he had been thinking about retiring since last summer but he finally made it official when he landed a sales position with Daktronics Inc, an electronic scoreboard and message board company out of South Dakota in February. Van Zile, a Butler resident, will work from home for the most part as a regional sales representative in the area, he said.

Van Zile replaced Paul White, who went onto a terrific run at Glen Rock, as Wallkill’s head football coach in 1989. Van Zile, and his outstanding coaching staff, molded the Rangers into winners and in 1994, Wallkill won its only North 1, Group 2 sectional title when it topped Lenape Valley at Giants Stadium. Although Van Zile was still the head coach, he coached the freshmen that year in order to watch his son, Scott, play for Jones at Butler in 1994. Van Zile’s good friend and top assistant John Pew guided the Rangers to the crown.

Van Zile returned in 1995 and led the Rangers to the final again, but they lost to a very tough Ridgefield Park team. Van Zile stepped down for good after the 1995 season to concentrate on being co-AD with Pew, who took over the football program. The duo had replaced Kurt Walton, currently Newton’s AD, who left to take the AD job at Kittatinny two years prior.

Van Zile and Pew shared the position for several years until Pew decided he wanted to get back into the classroom. He was replaced as co-AD by Ron Anello, who was coming off an outstanding run as the head football coach at West Essex. Anello and Van Zile worked together until 2003 when he left Wallkill to take the football job at Clifton for the 2004 season. Anello led the Mustangs to their first state title since 1973 in 2006. Van Zile has been flying solo ever since.

“It worked well,” Van Zile said of sharing the position. “John and I are very similar and are old-school coaches and we worked well together. But he wanted to get back to the classroom and Ronnie came in and we worked well together, too. But he wanted to be a head coach again, so it worked out for him.

“It is a very busy job because we do a lot of events here,” added Van Zile about going solo. “People give me a lot of credit, but it is the people who work here that get it done. They are all great and nobody is better. We have a great facility and we want people to come here and enjoy the experience. Plus, we have a great administration here. Joe DiPasquale is a positive force when it comes to athletics in a high school setting, which makes it so much easier for me to do my job. They have been great and nothing but supportive.”

Van Zile and his staff do a great job year-in-and-year-out running the Region 1 wrestling tourney, the Sussex County Interscholastic League Boys and Girls Basketball Festival finals, the Ranger Holiday basketball tournament, the Ranger Relays in track and the Ranger Tournament in softball.

When one thinks of hosting a huge sporting event in Sussex County, the first place that comes to mind is Wallkill Valley and that is due to Van Zile and the gracious way he runs the show at Wallkill.

Now that Van Zile is retiring, it begs the question, what about realignment? Van Zile, as everyone knows who follows high school athletics in New Jersey, has the led the charge on the issue starting back in the late 1990s. His football-only proposal, which would separate public and non-public schools into districts based on size and geography, was shot down by a 4-1 margin in 2000 by the member schools of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, but in the eight years since, it has gained a new life and is at the forefront of scholastic sports in the state.

The terms “athletic advantage” and “competitive balance” have become the buzzwords the last few years. In December, the member schools of the NJSIAA voted down Van Zile’s plan, which was now sponsored by the SCIL, 209-155. The NNJIL took Van Zile’s plan one step further and proposed public and non-public schools should be separated in all sports. That plan was narrowly defeated, 186-178.

The point is, if not for Van Zile and the hard work he put into his vision, the question of competitive balance would have never been raised. Van Zile, along with Wallkill Valley Vice Principal John Petronaci, formulated the plan and it was decided that Van Zile would be the spokesperson and what an eloquent and outstanding job he did. To turn a 4-1 margin of defeat from eight years ago to where the issue is now is truly amazing.

In that time, he has had many converts, including myself, and Vernon AD Bill Edelman who was very vocal in his opposition to the plan in 2000. After carefully listening to Van Zile, you really get the feeling he is doing what is best for the kids in the state, not just Wallkill Valley. At the time of the first proposal I thought the plan was too radical and that the Wallkill guys were just tired of losing. But I was wrong.

Van Zile, who is a member of a special NJSIAA committee charged with finding a solution to the problem, will remain on the committee until June. He said if he is asked to stay on as a consultant he would definitely do it. He said that the committee will make its recommendations to the state by the end of the school year.

“I have no personal agenda here,” said Van Zile. “I’m not out to get anyone. I am just very passionate about it. I believe there are situations that need to be corrected and addressed and I will do that to the best of my ability until June or anytime after that if I am asked. It is an issue that the state has to step up and address for the sake of the kids.

“But after I retire, there guys out there like Denis Nelson at River Dell and Steve Jenkins at Bloomfield who won’t let the issue die. We (Wallkill Valley) can take the credit for getting the ball rolling. We just wanted the state to take a good look at competitive balance.”

And because of Van Zile’s tireless crusade the state has and every school in the state owes him a debt, even if it is against his plan. Van Zile didn’t just whine about the problem, he went out and did something about it, which should be applauded in this day-and-age of armchair quarterbacks.

Now for those who never met Mike, they will only know him for his effort to address competitive balance and that is a shame. I have been privileged to have had a working relationship with him since 1989 when I was a young reporter learning the ropes. There isn’t an AD in the state who works harder in promoting his school and student-athletes in such a positive manner.

As far as being media-savvy, he is the best. Van Zile will answer all of your questions and he won’t give you “coachspeak.” He will be honest and direct and he is always available for a comment, even if you call him at home. On a selfish level, I will be sad to see him leave. He always greeted me with a warm smile and handshake and went out of his way to make sure I had everything I needed. And his actions are genuine and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Van Zile said that is how he was raised by his parents, and taught by his coaches, two legends in Jack Davies at Butler and Clary Anderson at Montclair State. And after a tremendous run in education and athletics, it is safe to say, Mike Van Zile is now a legend.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.