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Franklin High School football head coach John Paczkowski has resigned his position, opting to end his 27-year coaching career to pursue one in school administration.
Paczkowski, who amassed an 11-29 record in four seasons as the Warriors head coach, also serves as Dean of Discipline for the 9th Grade and has served as a Special Education teacher. He recently earned a Master’s in Administration, paving the way for him to pursue high-level jobs in a school system, such as vice principal.
Paczkowski, who submitted his letter of resignation on November 4, said that his pursuit of administrative positions would clash with the preparation needed for football season.
“I’ll be looking for administration positions,” he said. “It wouldn’t be fair with the effort and energy you need in the off-season for me to be looking for an administrative position.
“If an administrative position came up right before the season, or in the middle or end of a season, I would have to give my notice and leave for that opportunity for me and my family, I couldn’t with a clear conscious do that to the team,” he said.
Paczkowski said he’d accomplished one of his goals he set when he took the job in 2017.
“Even from when I came in to take the job, I wanted to take Franklin and move it in a positive direction,” he said. “Academically, I feel there’s been some improvement with student-athletes, helping them in placement in colleges.”
Although the team did not post a winning record during Paczkowski’s tenure, there was a silver lining, he said.
“We’ve had plenty of times when we’ve been competitive over the past few years,” he said. “We’ve won some games nobody we thought we had a chance in, beating Union, Elizabeth over the course of the years.”
“Could be time for a new face, hopefully someone who can take it to the next level,” he said. “I think we’re in a good place, a significant number of players are returning. I feel the future is very bright for Franklin.”
Paczkowski said he was grateful to past and current administrators at the high school for their support over the years.
“Talk about a place that has phenomenal people in phenomenal situations, who are always willing to go out of their way to see what you need to help you succeed, that place is Franklin,” he said.
Entering a school system’s administration was not someth8ing Paczkowski was interested in until several years ago, when he became the high school Dean of Discipline, he said.
But after being in the position, Paczkowski said, he sees how he can have an influence on more students.
“As a football coach I can have an enormous impact on 90 students, academically, athletically, and socially,” he said. “As a Dean, I can be a piece of the lives of 500 or 600 students in a class.”
“As a VP I can be a positive impact academically, emotionally, and socially on how many more students,” he said. “So I feel I can be of better service.”
High school Athletic Director Ken Margolin said Paczkowski was “a hard worker.”
“He moved the program in the right direction in terms of discipline and commitment,” Margolin said. “He didn’t get the wins I think he would have hoped for.”
“He’s a solid man, a solid part in our school,” he said. “Even though he won’t be in the head coach role, he’ll help the kids any way he can.”
Margolin said the search for a new head coach has begun.
“We’ve posted it, externally and internally,” he said. “We have some candidates, and we’ll go through the process.”
Overall, how does Paczkowski feel about leaving coaching?
“Do you ever leave coaching? I don’t think you ever do,” he said. “Look at two administrators, (FHS principal) Dr. (Nicholas) Solomon and (Franklin Middle School – Hamilton Street campus vice principal) Lou Solomon. When I came in Lou Solomon was at my first meeting when I was introduced, because he had a lot of the senior players” when he served as coach.
“Will you miss the strategy and the Xs and Os and the game pan, the daily motivation of the players and assistant coaches? Yeah,” he said. “Can you still be impactful when they take their helmets off? Well, if you’re not, did you ever really coach?”
