For retiring Marquette coach Tom Jobst, it was people – not wins – that made his career a success

Tom Jobst sauntered through the restaurant, ever smiling as he stopping to exchange holiday pleasantries with many on his way toward his table. Some were acquaintances, some not, but all bidding him thanks and all the best on his recently announced retirement.

It was about a week before Christmas, less than 24 hours since Jobst stepped down as head football coach at Marquette Academy, and he was genuinely surprised the news was met with even a hint of gloom by anyone other than himself.

“Why do people congratulate you when you quit something? I’m in mourning, and they’re congratulating me,” Jobst said with a smile as he settled into the booth. “Some people are reacting like something bad happened. It’s really a pretty good thing.

“Over the last few years, I’ve had a lot of coaching friends who have retired, and I’ve asked them, ‘How did you know?’ They didn’t really have an answer, just that they knew it was time, and I think that’s what happened to me. Starting over the summer, there was a little voice in the back of my head and it wouldn’t stop. It just said, ‘Now is the time.’ ”

There is no question Jobst is stepping away at a time when the Crusaders still are at their peak, this fall the smallest school in Illinois still playing 11-man football making their 12th consecutive IHSA playoff appearance.

The 6-5 season, while a roller-coaster ending with a lopsided win at Rushville-Industry and a disappointing loss at Galena, left the veteran coach with a 113-44 record in his 15 seasons with Marquette, and a 197-103 mark for a head coaching career that included stops at New Berlin, Morrison and crosstown Ottawa.

And at each of those places, he was able to turn struggling programs into winners in a few short years. Marquette is the best example, going 0-9 and 2-7 with only 16 players in the program his first two years before going 111-28 with five conference championships, eight second-round, three quarterfinal and two semifinal playoff appearances, with growing rosters ever since.

His body of work earned him a spot in the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.

“Coaching at Marquette, I knew it was going to be a project, but I had no idea,” Jobst said. “Those first two years were all guts. We not only didn’t have enough talented players, we flat out didn’t have enough players. Now schools quit and go to eight-man, but we slugged through, tried to have fun at it and just embraced the mess. ‘Here we are, this is what we’ve got, let’s embrace it.'

“We never talked to the kids about winning and losing. We talk first of all about having fun, about getting better at what we do and about being competitive, and I’m proud of how we did all three.”

The fun for Jobst didn’t come in wins. It came from the people – the dads, fans, and parents. “I’ve said it a million times, a great bunch,” he said, taking part in “a team effort.”

But most of it came from the players, be it a star or the last kid off the bench.

He has no regret of coming up just short of the state championship game twice, because it was the journey that fed his passion, not the goal.

“Each day, I spend the morning at home getting ready for practice, then take a little break and I’m tired and all that,” Jobst said. “But when I hit the field with the kids, I just come alive, just being with the kids, watching them grow. Then later, I go home and crash, and I mean crash.

“When you’re in my situation, when you start a season you never know if you’re going to be able to finish it, and I had to drag myself across the line this year. Physically and mentally, for me it’s 12 months a year, and I love every bit of it. My only regret is that I’m not 10 years younger.

“The 20-year-old in me says keep going. I don’t think I’m any different in spirit now than I’ve ever been, but the mechanicals are fading and making it tougher. That’s all.

“I love the game. I love the kids, and I’ll really miss the kids.”

In fact, even the timing of his retirement was with the players in mind. The Crusaders are losing only 10 of the 33 players on the roster and will have a solid nucleus back, including four all-conference first-teamers: leading rusher/linebacker Grant Dose, quarterback/linebacker Anthony Couch, lineman Alex Schaefer and two-way end Blayden Cassel.

The new coach – longtime assistant Ken Carlson was announced just a few days after Jobst’s late-December retirement – will have his work cut out for him, but Marquette should be more than competitive yet again.

“When you look at the big picture, look at the program, we have some great coaches there, we have some great young players coming up.” Jobst said. “So if we were ever going to put a bump in the road, this might be the time to do it. That’s part of it, looking out for the best interests of the players. … I didn’t want to leave the game, didn’t want to leave the kids, but when life rolls along there are things that happen that you don’t want to happen and you deal with them the best you can.

“My sincerest hope is that the kids will stick together ... play hard for him and have fun playing the game. Numbers sometimes get in the way, but you’re there to play football, so just play.”

Not knowing what will fill the daily void left by football is “the scariest thing about this,” he said.

“I really don’t know what I’m going to do now. A person has to do something.” Jobst said. “But I’m confident I’ll find something, and it’ll be fun. I don’t know how much time is left on the clock, but I hope I can do some good and make the best of whatever that is.”