ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal High School Redskins football team will have a new yet familiar face at the head of its program at the beginning of the coming season with Marc Svaty.

As Svaty tells it, his roots in football and the state run deep.

“I’m from Fredonia, where I graduated from high school in 1994, and then I went to Bethany College and played from 1994 to 1999,” Svaty said. “I worked there as a coach, but before that, I was a captain my senior year. Later on, I worked at Kansas State University as an intern, working into their strength and conditioning department, but at that time also had the opportunity to come out to Liberal, and my first teaching job was at West Middle School. I very quickly moved up to the high school and coached with Coach Cornelson and his staff from 1999 to 2007, and I had a lot of success during that time. Then, I got my first head coaching opportunity in Halstead, which was a really good opportunity, and we were there for seven years. Then, a head coaching opportunity opened up at Parsons High School, and I went there for two years. During that time, my father got sick, and it ended up being the right move to move back to Fredonia, since that’s where they still lived. That job opened up, and that’s where we’ve been for the last 10 years.”

It was only rather recently when Svaty said he heard about the LHS opening.

“This is going to be my ninth year in Liberal, so that’s going to be a rather wild transition for me,” Svaty said with a chuckle. “I’ve followed Liberal for years since I left as far as paying attention to scores and seeing how things are going, and it’s been fun keeping up with it all. Obviously there’s been a disruption here in regards to that head coaching position, and it was  about three weeks ago when I was asked, ‘Are you interested?’ My wife and I said ‘We’re from the area, we’re interested in going back,’ and everything felt right, so we’re really excited to be back. I went from feeling very melodramatic about leaving my hometown and leaving Fredonia to also feeling like I’m coming back home to Liberal, in a way, so there’s definitely been a mix of emotions.”

Svaty said he is excited to help with another generation of LHS Redskin football players.

“I’ve moved myself into the ability to fill that this capacity, but I’m also getting back into the community and see how it’s changed,” Svaty said. “I’ve been gone for about 19 years, but there are a lot of people still here from when I lived here last time, including some teachers I’ll be working with at the high school who I taught with before. I’ll be excited going around the community, seeing some of my former players who are now parents themselves, so there should be a lot of nice moments to reacquaint myself with all of those people after so long.”

Even though the announcement is still rather recent, Svaty said he has gotten right to work.

“Last Tuesday was my first day, and we dove right in. We started with the intake at the district office, met with Chad [Friess] for a while, and then we had a marathon coaching clinic along with another one the day after that. There are also a bunch of players who came in and were really excited to meet somebody new. I know there have been a lot of new faces, so it’s been great working to acquaint myself with the players. There were also a couple players who came in a few days ago to do a little bit of drill work and get to know that process better. We’ll get really started Monday, and my first 16 days are going to be very important. We’ve got a very aggressive plan put together – we’re going to have strength and conditioning work in the morning, then an hour of football right after that along with a couple small group sessions. We’ll be going to the Hays team camp June 15 and 16, where we’re going to be competing and scrimmaging against other opponents. My hope is we hit these first 16 days hard and heavy and have everyone integrated into the system. After that, another important thing we’ll be working on will be solidifying the coaching staff. I’ve been recruiting, but I don’t know if that’s going to work out, and I know we have some good talent already here. Once we get back from the Hays team camp, I want us to really focus on strength and conditioning and continue the football aspect so that’s ready to go heading into August. When we get to August, I want us to be at the point where we start practicing without having too much extra teaching so we can make the most of practice time.”

Even though the season is still a few months away, Svaty said he is ready to get started.

“Coming from a 2A program to a 5A program, there will be a lot of new work and new expectations, plus a new level of athlete to work with. Whenever you’re competing against what will be some of the best teams in Kansas, we’ve got to step our game up so we are providing our players the opportunity to have the experience of being the best that Kansas has to offer in regards to football,” Svaty said. “In regards to the season, it’s a very difficult schedule, and I can’t really give any promises of wins and losses yet since I haven’t had the time to see the team on film to be able to assess the talent level. I also haven’t had time to see the opponents, and that’s going to be something else that’ll needs to happen after we get back from the team camp and progress into the season. I want to integrate myself in the community. I want to get to know the coaches of the other programs. I want to support the other programs. This place has a tradition of excellence, but I want to leave in here during my timeframe a legacy of our own, while honoring the traditions of the past.”

Overall, Svaty said, he is excited to be a Redskin again.

“I’m very excited about being here and creating a staff and a culture of hopefully success, and success can look in a lot of different ways,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m ready to get going.”