Coaching a football team can be hard work. Coaches have to sacrifice their time and energy to make sure their team is as successful as it can be. Solon High School’s (SHS) head football coach Brian Wisniewski, shares his experiences with being head coach for his first year and how it impacts him.

Jim McQuaide retired as head football coach in November to concentrate on administrative duties as the high school’s athletic director, as stated in the article, Solon Promotes Defensive Coordinator Brian Wisniewski as Head Coach. Wisniewski made a large enough impression to start his new career as head coach.

One of Wisniewski’s assistant coaches and a few players from the team had a lot of positive things to say about how Mr. Wiz started his new career.

Football captain Chase Johnson, who’s a right tackle and defensive end, explains how Wisniewski brings good energy to the team and how players love to be around him.

“[My favorite part about the coach is] definitely the energy he brings,” Johnson said. “He connects with the players a lot and he’s a fun guy to be around. If we’re listening to music in the locker room, he’ll come in and dance with us. Players love him because of that.”

Wisniewski is all about creating a fun and encouraging environment for the players. Senior offensive lineman and right guard Lucas Kronenfeld expresses one of Wisniewski’s motivations before each game, and how it puts the team in a better head-space.

“He likes to pick one word or one idea to focus on before every game to motivate us,” Kronenfeld said. “Before the season, we all had to pick words and tell him what they mean to us, to earn our stickers on our helmet[s]. So before every game, he comes up with a new word every week that helps motivate us.”

Though there are pros to being a head coach, according to SHS assistant coach Kurt Gielink, coaching can be difficult when they have a family to look after. The amount of time and energy they have to put into the team can be hard for some people, especially when taking on a bigger role like being a head coach. Gielink shares that he wouldn’t be able to take on that huge responsibility Wisniewski has to deal with, considering Gielink has a family.

“I know he’s not married and doesn’t have kids so it’s a bit different,” Gielink said. “[But] I look at that, and oftentimes I like to think of myself, being married and having three kids. I couldn’t put the time in that he does. The amount of time a head coach has to put in, no one sees it. But it’s just an extraordinary amount of time that I would not be able to do.”

Wisniewski loves his team, so negative talk and stress are things he tries to deal with in the best ways he can.

“I try to focus on what I specifically can control,” Wisniewski said. “A lot of times stress comes from worrying about things outside of your control. I try to talk to my players about the same thing, control what you control. If you can have that mindset, I think you eliminate a lot of the outside distractions and noise that causes stress.

“I will say that some stress is good. If you are stressed about something or nervous, it usually means that you care – which is what we want. Learning to deal with that stress and those feelings is the difference maker.”

Wisniewski’s shares how his main goal was to become head coach. Ever since he was younger, he was always inspired to coach.

“I do not look at this as the end of that goal,” Wisniewski said. “Working every day to improve and be the best version of myself to help the team, and this program is a daily goal that I am focused on. [I’ve] had great coaches growing up. They took the time and invested in building a relationship as well as teaching the game. I have always been inspired to do the same from a young age.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done throughout the team and throughout SHS. Though it’s hard to predict the outcomes of the future, Wisniewski is mindful of the plans he has control over for the Solon Comets in five years time.

“In five years, I’ll be firing up a new set of Comets to run out onto Stewart Field and working each day to help the team,” Wisniewski said. “I think these past few years have [shown] us all [that] it’s hard to predict what the future holds. I do know I’ll be happy and I’ll be working hard – those are all in my control.”