Lake Country This Month

By Matt Cohen Freeman Staff TOWN OF MERTON — Arrowhead has experience at the linebacker coach posi- tion. After a four-year hiatus, longtime Arrowhead football coach Tom Taraska enters his 42nd year of coaching and returns to a familiar place. "(Getting back) was an interesting process," Taras- ka said. Since leaving Arrowhead, Taraska spent a year volun- teering at Arrowhead foot- ball, two years coaching at Brookfield Central and last season at University of Wis- consin-Oshkosh. Before taking the opening, Taraska and Arrowhead coach Fritz Rauch talked sev- eral times. "(Rauch) had called me when the job first opened asking questions about the position and I told him I thought it was a great posi- tion and a great school," Taraska said. It's a great community that gives great support and has wonderful people." Rauch went to watch a practice at UW-Oshkosh and was able to go to dinner with Taraska where he was asked if he'd be interested in returning. "One thing led to another and he's a Warhawk again," Rauch said. Taraska had an apartment in Oshkosh for the season, but still lived in the Arrow- head community permanent- ly. "We just talked about some things and then it continued to progress and just seemed to be a pretty good fit," Taras- ka said. "I have great respect for (Rauch) and it allows me to live at home. It was really hard for me to leave the uni- versity, and they were won- derful about everything. "Both were great jobs, but this was just a chance to reconnect again with the community and hopefully help them with some things that they can use." Rauch is helpful. "He is an invaluable part of our staff," Rauch said. "He gives me a lot of insight into how to maneuver how to be a head coach at Arrowhead. So that's the stuff you can't buy. I don't care how long you've been a head coach, being a coach at Arrowhead is a little different than other places." Despite the advice he pro- vides, he also works very quickly during games and practice. "He sees things on the field very quickly and identifies things very quickly," Rauch said. "I think his strength as a coach is that he's a good teacher and designs drills with purpose." That is no coincidence. Taraska was a physical edu- cation teacher during his time at Arrowhead, and taught or coached a lot of current players' parents. "It's really neat to see the next generation," he said. "It's always fun to see par- ents after the game, especial- ly the ones I had as students and the ones that played for me. It's a very proud commu- nity." Because Taraska has been gone for four years, none of the current players previous- ly had him as a coach, which is good in his opinion. "The good news is there's no players in the program that I ever was the coach for," he said. "In fact some proba- bly wonder if I ever coached there. I guess if they look at the stadium sign and see the name, but I don't know if they put the connection together." The connection Taraska is referring to is the fact Arrowhead's field is named after him. "It signified an era of peo- ple that took a lot of pride into the program," he said. The bottom line is that it was always the kids and the fami- lies that built the program, I just tried to manage it." As a linebacker coach, Taraska enjoys working with a smaller group and loves his smaller role on the staff. "It's neat I really get to enjoy it more and don't have the pressures of being the head coach," he said. "I get to actually coach a position and have players of my own with- out having to oversee every- thing and I'm really enjoying that." The fact he knows exactly what the head coach goes through makes him a great resource. "(Taraska) and I have grown to really know and trust each other," Rauch said. "I think the mutual respect is very positive and obviously it's a good one for the kids." During his 33 years as a head coach, Taraska some- times became jealous of the roles assistant coaches had, which makes his position now very refreshing. "I'm just like any other assistant coach. There's a whole bunch of them higher than me, so it's all good. It's just fun." Taraska has every right to talk about his experience and tradition he's created at Arrowhead, but he prefers to focus on the task at hand and stay behind the scenes. "I think most of them are pretty aware of the school's history, but I've tried to stay in the background as much as I can right now." Taraska is 65 years old and has stories about grandpar- ents of some of the kids on the current team. Further- more, five members of the current coaching staff actu- ally played for Taraska at Arrowhead. "What is enjoyable is the way the players will hear a lot of stories from there par- ents about me," he said. "It's really enjoyable because I remember when their grand- parents were around. They were all great families. I have a lot of deep ties to the com- munity and the players in general." Taraska thinks it would be hard for some head coaches to have him on staff because he brings so much history and experience to an assis- tant coaching position. "To be honest it comes down if the head coach would be comfortable bring- ing a person like me back," he said. "I give (Rauch) tremendous credit that way because it's always hard. He's very comfortable in his own skin and knows he's in charge of the program." When Taraska left, he did- n't know if he'd return, how- ever he did know coaching would be part of his future. It's obvious Arrowhead football, and coach Rauch, are happy to have him back. "We have a lot of history on our staff," he said. "It's very special." Email: mcohen@conleynet.com Page 4B • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY October 2016 © 2013 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. 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