By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The recent announcement by Penn High School (Ind.) football coach Chris Geesman of his retirement sent chills up and down the spines of the Niles High School football faithful.
That's because they knew Niles coach Dave Janicki has a lot of ties to the Penn football program and would be among the possible successors to Geesman's 30-year stint at Penn.
Janicki, however, does not feel applying for the Penn position is an option.
Janicki attended Penn High School and played for Geesman, who retires as the second-winningest coach in Indiana high school football history and with five state titles under his belt.
After graduating from college, Janicki returned to teach at Penn and begin his coaching career. He spent two years coaching junior high football, one year coaching freshmen football and then five years alongside Geesman with the varsity program.
That, however, is as far as Janicki's coaching ties to Penn go. He came to Niles in 2000 and led the Vikings to back-to-back state playoff berths in 2001 and 2002, a first in school history.
While Janicki pondered the possibility of taking over at Penn, in the end it was an easy decision.
Janicki will always have ties to Penn High School, namely in Geesman.
Asked what his long-term goals were for his coaching career, Janicki stuck to his game plan.
In just three years, Janicki has taken a program that won five games in three consecutive seasons and turned it into a perennial winner. And he sees that successful trend continuing.