THE GRINDER
Newly-hired Portage football coach Terry Chestovich says he has no illusions about the task ahead
Terry Chestovich was boardapproved as Portage’s football coach on Tuesday night.
As soon as the board meeting ended, Chestovich was on the phone trying to round up a varsity staff.
He’s the lone Portage football coach.
According to Chestovich, who was on Russ Radtke’s staff for three months, Radtke took three assistants with him to Knox. Radtke resigned from Portage on June 5.
The assistants were Ted White, Julio Cisneros and Tyler Radtke, Russ Radtke’s son. There had been talk of Bo Radtke joining the Portage staff when Russ Radtke was there.
Chestovich was not complaining. He knows what he’s up against.
It’s a difficult rebuilding job. Here is the good news: He’s not going to quit before the season starts, and he’s not going to talk about winning state titles.
Chestovich has seen the good and the bad as a Portage assistant. He was the defensive coordinator for the past eight seasons.
Portage has had two winning seasons since he started. The Indians were 6-4 in 2013 and in 2016. There were three one-win seasons during that span.
Portage football needs a dose of reality, and Chestovich is bringing it.
He has no illusions about what the 2020 season will bring if there is a season.
The coronavirus pandemic and Radtke’s short, disastrous tenure have prepared
Chestovich for anything.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” he said of trying to elevate the program. “We are late to the game for this. That’s not an excuse. We have to work hard and get a staff together. We have to get the kids together and make them excited.”
A 1993 Chesterton graduate, Chestovich has coached high school football for 23 years.
He started at Chesterton in 1997 as the freshman coach. He was the head coach at Knox from 2007 to 2011. Chestovich had two winning seasons there, taking the Redskins to the sectional final against Andrean in 2008.
He wasn’t itching to make a move for Portage’s top job after Radtke called him and told him he was leaving.
“Thoughtful” and “deliberate” are better terms.
Chestovich didn’t apply for the job when Darren Rodriguez wasn’t retained. He did apply for it after Wally McCormack resigned in 2015.
“I just didn’t think it was the right time for me to get back into it,” he said about not applying after Rodriguez left. “This opportunity presented itself, and I thought it was the right time to put my name back in it.”
Chestovich said the administration did not ask him to apply.
Asked if he felt like he was the best person for the current situation, he said, “As far as my thought process, I believe that you have to put the kids first. That’s the goal of every coach. I had to do some soul searching and look at this to (consider applying). I think the timing is right. The kids played a big part for me. As far as being the best guy, those are things the administration had to decide. I can’t think of why it happened or what happened. We just have to go forward.”
Chestovich said he is anxious to get to work.
“The biggest thing is get a staff together that is going to be loyal to Portage, stick around and do what is best for the kids,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to run the defense under some good coaches. We’ll need someone for the other side of the ball. All I know is I’m a grinder. I’m going to put my head down and get after it.” That’s all he can do for now. It’s going to take time to figure it out.