High school football: McHenry opens search for head coach; Niemic will be considered

Jon Niemic knew from the beginning that he was guaranteed only one season when he took over as interim head football coach at McHenry in June.

Niemic served as the Warriors’ interim coach this fall after former coach Nat Zunkel resigned in June following his arrest on domestic battery charges.

"Our administration did a great job communicating that with me," Niemic said Wednesday. "I took the job fully aware that it would be just for the season and I’d have to reapply at the end of the season."

McHenry posted its head football coaching position online Wednesday. Athletic director Barry Burmeister said the district wants to follow the proper protocols for hiring a head coach.

“The interim tag was an understanding from the beginning, [Niemic] knew that we were going to open it [to outside applicants],” Burmeister said. “He’s going to apply for it. It’s not a slap in his face or anything like that, he knew from the beginning it was going to be open. With an interim coach, we want to make sure we go through the proper procedures when we hire the coach.”

Niemic, 31, teaches social science at McHenry West. He said he is "100 percent going to apply for the job." Niemic called his opportunity as interim coach "a great experience."

"They needed me in a tough spot and I took an opportunity and ran with it," Niemic said. "When we talked about it at the beginning of the year, it was all about the kids. I wanted to keep the tradition going and keep the program going without any hiccups."

A 2006 Crystal Lake South graduate, Niemic served as the offensive coordinator under Zunkel for two seasons at McHenry prior to stepping in as interim head coach. He has previous head coaching experience at Sioux City North (Iowa) High School, where he was the head football coach during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

The Warriors went 2-7 in 2018 under Niemic, missing the playoffs, but ending the year with back-to-back wins.

Burmeister noted that the district hopes to move quickly with the coaching search.

“We want to get somebody in place pretty soon so we can move forward,” Burmeister said.