Mark Krusz
By Scott Taylor | @Taylor_Sports
It is hard to keep Mark Krusz away from Plainfield Central.
After leaving the school in 2013 to become the athletic director at Sandburg High School, he will be returning to Plainfield to take over as athletic director for the Wildcats for the 2016-17 school year.
He is replacing Dave Stephens, who will be the principal at the school in the fall.
“When Dave got the principal job, he gave me a call and asked if I would consider taking the job,” Krusz said. “I look forward to working with him again. You want to surround yourself with people you know and trust. I know what Plainfield Central is about. I think this will help make it a smooth transition for him and I already know a lot about the athletic department. I want to make Central an even better place than it is now.”
Krusz started his career at Plainfield in 1999 as a physical education and health teacher and was also the head girls basketball coach.
During his stint as head coach he advanced the Wildcats to the sectional final, the furthest a basketball team of either gender has ever advanced in District 202 history.
He left Plainfield for St. Charles North in 2001 before coming back in 2004 to teach and coach.
In 2007 he became the assistant athletic director, while continuing to coach the girls basketball team before leaving for Sandburg.
“Plainfield Central offered me my first head coaching job,” Krusz said. “The people are grounded and it is a great place. I have built relationships here. It reminds me of my hometown of Lincoln. I wanted to be an AD and that is why I left.”
Another perk of the job is being closer to home. While that won’t mean he gets to be home a lot more, it does allow his family to come see him some on the job during the countless hours of work during the school year.
“This job is a lot of hours,” Krusz said. “I have two little ones at home and two that are in college. They will be able to come see my while I’m working.”
One thing Krusz is looking to build on is bringing fans and alums out for games.
“I learned some things at Sandburg,” he said. “I want our students and alumni to realize the main events. I want to increase attendance at events. I want people to cheer on the school.
Central will have quite the different feel come fall as not only will it have a new AD, it will also have a new football coach for the first time this century as Jon Pereiro takes over the program.
“We will have new turf and a new head coach. I know there will be a lot of excitement,” Krusz said. “We have to take pride in it. We want to take advantage of the excitement and show we are making strides. We want to keep getting better.”