Coach Kyle is selected to the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches' Hall of Fame Class for 2014.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright January 2014
Cleveland, Ohio - Chuck Kyle's accomplishments as the head football coach at his high school alma mater Saint Ignatius have been well documented - an Ohio-record 11 Division I state championships, including a state best five in a row (1991-95), three national titles (1989, 93 and 95), a state runner-up in 1996, 25 OHSAA playoff appearances and 309 career victories in 31 seasons as the man who directs one of the strongest and classiest programs in the nation.
However, even some of the Wildcats' most avid fans don't realize that come this spring, the man they call "Chico" will be entering his 41st season as the head track and field coach at Saint Ignatius.
Coach Kyle '69 always recalls that day when, as a young teacher and an assistant coach at Saint Ignatius, he was approached by the Wildcats' legendary coach and athletic director, the late John J. Wirtz, and given the job as the head track and field coach at Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School. There was no way Chuck was going to turn down the job, as Coach Wirtz was Coach Kyle's football coach when Chuck was garnering All-City honors as a tailback for the Wildcats in the late 1960s.
The rest is history, as they say, a rich history that has produced 25 Division I track and field district championships, including a current string of 20 consecutive district titles, eight regional championships, a regional runner-up, the 2001 big-school state championship and a state runner-up in 2005.
As he has done in football, Coach Kyle has helped hone the skills of some of the area's finest track and field athletes, including three-event standout Anthony Gonzalez from the 2001 state championship team, who went on to a brilliant football career at The Ohio State University and was a first-round draft selection by the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. The remarkable 2001 team also produced the Wildcats' outstanding state champion thrower Ryan Franzinger, who is currently an excellent assistant football and track coach under Coach Kyle, and the record-setting state champion in the 800 meters, Marc Sylvester, who still holds Ohio's top mark in that event (1:48.93).
And of course there was pole vaulter Tim Mack, who went on to win the Gold Medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
From the summer months, when football practice begins, through early June of the new year, when another school calendar closes and yet another track and field season comes to an end, Coach Kyle brings an endless passion and a tireless work ethic to the athletic fields and the classroom.
One of the most celebrated head football coaches in the nation, Coach Kyle has now been recognized by his spring peers as a member of the Ohio Association of Track and Cross County Coaches' Hall of Fame Class for 2014.
As emphasized by the OATCCC, the forever young Coach Kyle becomes the first to be inducted into Ohio's prestigious Halls of Fame for his achievements in both football and track and field.
CONGRATULATIONS to Chuck, his wife, Pat, their children and grandchildren, the entire Kyle family, Saint Ignatius and the Wildcats' outstanding athletic programs headed by Athletic Administrator Rory Fitzpatrick '88 and Associate Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach Sean O'Toole '87.