By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac Board of Education this morning hired three new athletic coaches.
In a special Monday morning meeting at the Wolverine Building, the school board voted on hiring a new football, girls' basketball and girls' tennis coach.
Michael J. Stanger was named to replace retired football coach Bernard Thomas.
Joe Spitale was named to replace resigned basketball coach Michael Pallas.
Chuck Rubino was named to replace resigned tennis coach Curtis Partee.
The school board unanimously approved the hiring of all three coaches.
Missing from the meeting were President Randy Cuthbert, Larry Seurynck and Bill Lawrence.
Dowagiac Superintendent Larry Crandall, along with Athletic Director Bob Follett, announced the selection of Stanger after a series of interviews.
Stanger is currently an assistant coach at Bremen High School in Midlothian, Ill., a southern suburb of Chicago.
Stanger coaches quarterback and running backs on the offensive side of the football and the defensive line.
He also coaches kickoff return and punt return teams.
Stanger is also the offensive coordinator for Bremen. In 2002, Bremen High School was the second highest scoring team in the Chicago South Suburbs.
Bremen High School has made the playoffs five of the past six seasons and won three conference championships.
Bremen is 43-19 the past six seasons.
Stanger also serves at Bremen High School's varsity assistant/head track coach, and is the school's weight and conditioning coach.
Stanger played football at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill., where he earned a B.A. in history/secondary education.
Stanger will teach social studies in Dowagiac.
Follett said that Stanger is an assistant coach under John D'Ambrosio, who was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Hall of Fame.
D'Ambrosio is set to retire next season. Stanger was offered the position, but has decided not to take it.
Spitale is no stanger to Chieftain fans.
Spitale was a standout athlete at Lakeshore High School.
He graduated from Western Michigan University in 1998 where he earned his teaching degree.
Spitale has been a junior varsity coach at Lakeshore in 2001-02, as well as an assistant softball coach at Loyola University (2000-01).
He was the boys' varsity basketball coach at Bangor during the 1999-2000 season where his squad won the district championship.
He has also been an assistant varsity basketball coach at Lakeshore and an assistant softball coach at Lake Michigan College.
Chieftain fans are also very familiar with Rubino, who recently announced his retirement from coaching the wrestling program.
Rubino has coached both boys' and girls' tennis at Dowagiac, but gave them up to concentrate on running his highly successful wrestling program.