Tommy

The man’s name is spelled RadTke.

Statement from Portage High School Athletic Director Fred Joseph: Portage High School Athletic Director Fred Joseph released the following statement regarding the hiring of Russ Radtke "On behalf of Portage High School we are proud to announce the hiring of Russ Radtke as the head football coach for the upcoming 2020-2021 season. We were overwhelmed with the amount of interest expressed for the position, as well as the number of quality applicants, and we thank all those who took the time to apply. Coach Radtke’s experience and proven success could not be overlooked. We believe Coach Radtke embodies the very essence of Portage High School and its community, with an emphasis on instilling the virtues of Loyalty, Pride and Dedication (LPD). Coach Radtke has managed to foster and cultivate a winning mentality everywhere he’s been, as evident with his accolades. Coach Radtke is #2 on the all-time winningest current coaches list with 368 victories, and he has led programs to 4 Semi-State titles as well as the 1997 State Championship with Griffith High School."

News blurb from The Times: https://www.nwitimes.com/high-school/portage/portage-hires-former-griffith-coach-russ-radtke/article_aed9544e-e9c2-5798-b5e7-dbeadb4d2dee.html#tracking-source=home-breaking

Per the Region Sports Network Russ Radtke was hired tonight by the Portage Township School Board of Trustees as the new head varsity football coach.

At age 67 Portage would probably be his last stop.

Radtke needs to go in there and kick some butt.

Al Hamnik (a guy that has been covering the high school sports scene longer that most people reading this has been alive) is reporting that Russ Radtke is leaving New Prairie and taking over at Portage. The DAC and 6A north might get a lot more interesting.

1994 Portage @ Hobart. Standing room only at the Brickie Bowl. Joe Christian went berserk. That Brickie mystique was never the same to me after that night. Beat defending runner up Lake Central twice that year. 1997 Portage hosted Hobart. Buzea VS. Howell as the coaching match-up. Bricking fans packed the visiting stands at the Warpath. During the course of the game Buzz walked across the field to the Hobart sideline to dispute a call with the officials. The Brickies fans totally erupted. 1998 Portage upset a top ranked Valpo team twice. 2002 Portage hosted Valpo in the sectional championship game. Portage got flagged because Buzz kept the team in the locker room 15 minutes after halftime was over. 2009 Michigan City traveled over to Valpo. City fans packed the Valpo stands. City pulled off a rare win thanks to the efforts of Adam Harmon running out of the wildcat. Mark Hoffman apparently told Buzz after the game that he will never beat him ever again, he was right, Buzea left for H-F the next season.

Commissioner Cox told Network Indiana that he was most proud of establishing Unified sports teams that allows students with disabilities to compete in high school athletics.

I like how you posted the job description along with the coaching vacancy announcement.

He is a member of Coach Phil Mason's staff at Michigan City and is also serves as Michigan City High School vice principal.

Valpo’s Cooper Jones

Minnesota State Mavericks are the reigning 2019 NCAA Division II National Runner Ups. https://msumavericks.com/sports/football/schedule/2019

They still have 2 years of college eligibility left. I tell everyone that they are going to come back to MC and take over the program. They are entering their 15th consecutive year of playing organized football. They have plans to get into personal training and strength and conditioning. One of their mentors is a guy named Eric Griffin who they attribute much of their success. Eric Griffin should have a show on ESPN similar to Mr. Olympia Lee Haney’s workout.

They will be splitting reps. GVSU runs a single back offense. Would not be surprised to see Markice line up as a slot receiver. Looking forward to an encore presentation of the Buck and Hurt show. They are going to set the NCAA Division II college football world on fire..

Markice Hurt Jr. (Michigan City Class of 2017) has transferred from Ball State to Grand Valley State University. He will be rejoining his cousin Aryuan Cain-Veasey (Buck) in the backfield for the Lakers.

I did that once for Michigan City. A lot of exciting things have happened since then and have been thinking oeif updating it. It would be scenario where you are the head coach at Hooterville High School for the past 8 seasons and have moved up into administration have been promoted to athletic director (which is very common) after no internal candidates have applied to be the new football coach you are being tasked to write a job description about your program to seek out the best external candidate.

That would be a good thread topic, "Write a job description for your football program."

This position is now posted on the Portage Township Schools website, I really like the job description:

I believe Elkhart is going to experience the same problems that Michigan City experienced when Elston and Rogers consolidated. They are putting the 9th graders at Central and grades 10, 11 and 12 will be at Memorial but the football games will be played at Central's Rice Field. When Elston and Rogers consolidated in 1995 the put the 9th graders at Elston and grades 10, 11 and 12 at Rogers until they finally put grades 9-12 under one roof at Rogers (MCHS) and the games are played at Ames Field. They are going to find that having their high school building and their football facility located into two entirely separate sections of the city is a logistical nightmare. I strongly recommend that most of the teams activities be based out of their high school building at Memorial.

Cooper Jones from Valpo. His dad is Eric Jones played for Les Klein at Portage back in the late 80s and went on to play three years of defensive end for Lou Holts at Notre Dame. Would like to see Cooper become the first player from the region to be named Indiana Mr. Football since he competed in the state finals.

Coaches in the Chicago suburbs make over six figures.

Page 37 of the 1018-2019 IHSAA directory 9-13 No Sunday Athletic Participation There shall be no interschool athletic Contests, school Practices or school sponsored clinics held on Sunday. Calling One (1) or more team members together on Sunday for studying scouting reports, viewing films of games, any kind of participation, etc. will be considered a violation of this rule.

It is a violation of IHSAA bylaws to have any participation on a Sunday..