FLUSHING, MI – Robert Oginsky figures the time has come to start giving back to the people who have supported him the most over the past 13 years.
So with that in mind, Oginsky is retiring as a high school football coach to spend more time with his family, which has always been there for him during four seasons on the sideline at Mt. Morris and nine more at Flushing.
“I’m really happy with what’s been accomplished with the men I’ve worked and with the players I’ve coached,” Oginsky said. “I’m looking forward to spending more time with the family. I have a daughter in high school and I coached my son in high school, which was rewarding.
“I enjoyed every moment of coaching and it’s time for me to move along and focus on myself and my family. It’s a time-consuming job. I loved every minute of it but I’m looking forward to the future, too.”
That will mean getting to attend daughter Morgan’s athletic events. She plays volleyball and is on the track and field team at Flushing, where son Garrett was the Raiders’ starting quarterback in 2015.
Coaching Garrett and winning the two district championships were obviously highlights during Oginsky’s coaching tenure, but as much as anything Oginsky said he’ll remember the bond he formed with his players.
Oginsky said it wasn’t uncommon for him and his players to tell each other “I love you.”
“The ones who have graduated and moved on (are) still be like family,” he said. “We talk and communicate. I’ve been over to their houses and they’ve been to my house. The victories are awesome, don’t get me wrong, but relationships are the true meanings.
“I’ve got some kids who call me dad. I’ve got some kids who call my wife (Melissa) mom. The mom thing, it started probably four years ago when we’d have our team dinners. I heard one of the players say ‘Thank you, mom’ and I said to myself, ‘I hope your mom isn’t offended.’
“I asked him ‘What do you call your mom?’ and he said, ‘Anybody who gives me food I call mom.’”
Oginsky began coaching baseball and football at lower levels in 1998 before becoming the head football coach at Mt. Morris in 2008. After four seasons at his alma mater, Oginsky moved on to Flushing in 2012 and spent the last nine seasons with the Raiders.
He has an overall record of 65-60 (.520) and his teams reached the playoffs six times, including the last four years. The Raiders were 2-5 last season.
Oginsky’s best years were 2014 and 2017, when his Flushing teams won district championships and finished with 9-3 records.
Although he won’t be coaching football anymore, Oginsky will retain his job as an eighth-grade math teacher at Flushing Middle School.
“I think this is my 24th year teaching but I have no plans to retire from teaching,” he said. “But I am going to spend more time with family. It’s not immediate family alone, it’s extended family.
“I love my players. I’ve always called them my children. I talk to them like my own blood. I enjoyed every moment of coaching and it’s time for me to move along and focus on myself and my family.”
Flushing athletic director Adam Smith is accepting letters of interest and resumes at adam.smith@flushingschools.org. Smith said he has already received a dozen resumes.
The deadline to apply is 3 p.m. Friday Feb. 5.
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January 30, 2021 at 03:14AM
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Flushing seeking new football coach after Robert Oginsky retires to spend time with family - MLive.com
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