Nicolet Hires Fourth Football Coach in Four Years

has a brand new head football coach.  Again.

For the fourth time in as many years, administrators have chosen a new gridiron leader.  Brad Kozaczuk, who was the defensive coordinator at Waukesha North High School last season, will get the final yay or nay vote on Monday at the regular School Board meeting. 

Kozaczuk replaces who has accepted a teaching and coaching position at . The school’s search committee whittled a list of 26 applicants down to nine, before interviewing five finalists.

“He was clearly the top choice among our nine-person committee,” said Kirk Krychowiak, Nicolet athletic director.  “He’s been a winner everywhere he’s been, as a player, an assistant, and a head coach. Everything I hear about him and everything I’ve seen is all positive. His football knowledge is tremendous.  I think he’s the right man for the job, absolutely.”

Prior to his stint at Waukesha North, where his team finished at 1-8, Kozaczuk was a linebackers coach for two seasons at Oshkosh North, helping lead the Spartans to 6-5 records both years.  Kozaczuk was the head coach at Fond du Lac High School in 2006 and 2007, posting 8-4 records and playoff appearances both seasons.

“It’s always an exciting thing when somebody thinks that your leadership capabilities fit their needs,” said Kozaczuk. “My vision for a program meshes with Nicolet’s and that’s an exciting thing. I want to build a consistent program for the kids to really have a great experience. It takes dedication and hard work but I think those are the values we want to teach our kids to show them that with hard work, dedication and doing the right thing you can build anything into a success.”

Kozaczuk had also applied for a social studies teacher position with Nicolet.  He was a finalist among more than 200 applicants, but did not get the position.

“There’s a glut of good teachers out there,” said Kozaczuk. “Obviously, that’s disappointing anytime you don’t get something that you really want, but there were a lot of other people that didn’t get it, either. I’m going to have to find some sort of other job.  Kirk and the rest of the administration have told me that they will do whatever they can to try and help me with that. It’s an ongoing process that we’re not sure about right now.”

Despite the job uncertainty, Kozaczuk says he is very happy with the coaching position. He has already started meeting with players and members of the coaching staff, leading running drills and conducting strength testing. Though he has goals for his players, he has no timetable for a specific win/loss record.

“Those things will take care of themselves if you start putting the pieces into place,” said Kozaczuk. “Right now, we have to revamp the way we work and change the way we think.  We have to change the way we think of ourselves.  Once we start doing those things, we can really start to build on positives and success.”

“I think this bodes well for our future,” added Krychowiak.  “We’ve had kind of a carousel of coaches recently and we’ve got to stop that and get some continuity with our program. I just think he’s a guy that exudes confidence, attention, and respect. I think the kids are going to like playing for him and I think they’re going to run through a wall for him.”