By JIM CNOCKAERT
No matter where Jim Michalczik has wound up as a college football coach, a Montana State connection helped him to get there. Michalczik (pronounced Ma-hall-check) started out as a graduate assistant at the University of Miami (Fla.) in 1990, working with the defensive line. Dennis Erickson, a former MSU All-American, was the head coach. Miami's defensive coordinator was Sonny Lubick, a former MSU assistant and head coach. Cliff Hysell, who'd been Lubick's defensive coordinator at MSU, hired Michalczik in 1992 as MSU's offensive line coach. Michalczik left Bozeman in 1999 to join Erickson's staff at Oregon State. Jeff Tedford hired him to coach the University of California's offensive line in 2002. Next season, he also will serve as the Golden Bears' offensive coordinator. The Montana State tie in Berkeley isn't quite as obvious, but it's still there: Tedford played and later coached at Fresno State under Jim Sweeney, a former MSU assistant and head coach. "It's amazing how that's happened," Michalczik said. "I owe a lot to Montana State, in more ways than one."
Michalczik is grateful because he says he's living his dream. He says some of his best influences growing up in Port Angeles, Wash., were the men who coached him, so he decided early on that he wanted to coach. He expected he'd have to teach to do that, but it hasn't worked out that way. Michalczik played football and basketball in high school. He hoped to continue his football career at the University of Washington, which had offered his best friend, Scott Jones, a scholarship. But the Huskies didn't recruit him, so he accepted a scholarship from Washington State. "I had a chip on my shoulder for quite a while," he said.
Michalczik started as a junior and a senior on WSU's offensive line, and he earned All-Pac-10 and honorable mention All-America honors after his senior season. He played on the 1988 WSU squad that defeated Houston, 24-22, in the Aloha Bowl. He signed as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals, but was cut during training camp. Erickson was Michalczik's head coach at WSU in 1988, and the two had talked several times about the player's interest in coaching. A year after Erickson moved to Miami, he hired Michalczik, who was then just starting out as a teacher, as a graduate assistant. Michalczik worked under Lubick. Because graduate coaching positions turn over every two years, Michalczik began to look for a full-time job as an assistant coach. He got it at MSU, where Hysell had just been hired as head coach. "I needed a job, Cliff needed someone, and I had good references and connections," Michalczik recalled. "Those seasons at Montana State were a very formative experience," he continued. "When you're a young coach, you think you've got all the answers. You learn real quick that you don't. Cliff was awesome for a young coach. He kept you on your toes, made sure you did things the right way. I still use stuff I learned at Montana State every day."
Erickson, meanwhile, left Miami to coach the NFL's Seattle Seahawks for four seasons. He was fired in 1999 and immediately returned to college coaching, this time at Oregon State. One of the first coaches he hired was Michalczik. In 1999, the Beavers had their first winning season in 29 years. A year later, they won a share of the Pac-10 title and clobbered Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. "I was very happy at Oregon State," he said. "I figured with Coach Erickson there, I was set." But Michalczik had gotten to know Tedford, then the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, because they'd see each other while recruiting. Their paths crossed again, fortuitously this time, the day Cal hired Tedford as head coach: Michalczik was headed out of town on a recruiting trip; Tedford was headed to Berkeley with his family for his introductory press conference. "We just started talking," Michalczik said. "He didn't think I'd be interested in leaving Oregon State, and I hadn't thought about it. Coach Erickson had always been so good to me, but I'd always wanted to work with Jeff. I knew we could do something special." Michalczik's offensive lines have contributed mightily to the Golden Bears' success under Tedford. Cal's offense is one of five teams to rank in the top 25 in scoring offense the past five seasons, during which it has averaged more than 350 yards a game. Five of Michalczik's linemen have earned first-team all-conference honors.
After the 2006 season, Tedford asked Michalczik to take on the additional duties of offensive coordinator, and he readily agreed. "As a position coach, you have to take care of your responsibilities," he said. "But I felt more comfortable with my stuff, so it was a smooth transition. Our offense is not a lot different than what we did at Montana State, but Jeff does a great job of putting it all together. We always had a physical running game under Cliff (Hysell), and we complemented it with the pass. We always wanted to be a physical Montana team. It's the same thing at Cal." Michalczik's MSU connections don't end with football. He met his wife, Jennifer Streatfield, when she was an assistant volleyball coach with the Bobcats. They celebrate their 10th anniversary this month, and they have two sons: Max, 8, and Chase, 5. Here's another coincidence: Jennifer was eight months pregnant with Max when Michalczik moved from MSU to Oregon State; she was eight months pregnant with Chase when he joined Tedford's staff. Though he says he's thought occasionally about seeking a head coaching position, Michalczik said he is content to remain at Cal. The opportunity to be an offensive coordinator offers plenty of new challenges, he says. "A lot of coaches move around a lot, but I have never been one of those guys," he said. "If you're working with good people and doing the right things, you don't have to go anywhere else. I want to help us be as good a team as we can be."
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