Garfield G-Men athletic director Jim Pfleger knows full well what the G-Men Way is when it comes to the track program, given his own experience as a thrower during his high school days. That, as well his younger brother, Matt. Jim will try to preserve the G-Men Way by taking over as Garfield’s new head track coach.
“There are certain things we want to do and just continue that legacy,” the first-year coach noted. “As an assistant coach, we have had 16 or 17 league titles I have been a part of under Coach Bennett or my brother, so we have a great deal of success, so I am just trying to continue that.”
Jim Pfleger assumes the role of head track coach from Matt, who is stepping down as the track coach after four years. Pfleger will maintain his full-time responsibilities as athletic director and also continue serving as the throwing coach. According to Pfleger, although Matt no longer serves as the head coach, he will still serve as a volunteer coach and oversee the weighted throws in the indoor track season and assist his brother with the Garfield throwers in the outdoor season while continuing as Garfield’s assistant athletic director.
While Pfleger holds the title of head coach, he said that the coaching responsibilities will be shared equally with his assistant coaches.
“It is not like we have a huge staff or anything like that, but we have a lot of kids out for a school our size, so I think we are trying to keep things organized with them,” the 1999 graduate added. “We talk all of the time. We are all real close. I think things should go well.”
Having been associated with Garfield athletics since 2002, Pfleger’s first role with the athletic program was with the track team, when Bennett hired as him as the throwing coach in 2002.
Pfleger competed as a thrower in high school, primarily in the shot put but acknowledged that his primary sport was football. When he transferred to Kent State to continue his college education, he said that Bennett personally recruited him to return to the track program as a throwing coach.
He noted that earning a stamp of approval from Garfield’s revered track coach carried a lot of weight.
“It meant a lot because it turned from him being my coach in high school to giving me a coaching job and becoming one of my closest friends” he said. “I have been through a lot with John over the years and it really meant a lot.”
Pfleger took over as the throwing coach when Matt was still in eighth grade but coached him in the throwing events throughout his high school career, in which he was a six-time state qualifier in the discus and shot put, including finishing as the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II runner-up in the discus throw in his senior year.
“It was really cool,” the G-Men alum remarked. “I knew those kids from the time they were in kindergarten on, so it was really cool coming back. It was one of those things that you wish you could do over again.”
Even after becoming a varsity football assistant coach and soon rising to the role of athletic director, Pfleger kept his duties as the track throwing coach.
In Pfleger’s 22 years as the throwing coach, the G-Men have qualified 38 throwers to the outdoor state championships. He attributed his success to all of the work that he put in outside of the track, including going to throwing clinics and practicing some new techniques with Matt.
“It is cool seeing the kids having success. It is really kind of one of those things that never gets old. I was up at 3:30 in the morning on the days of regionals this year pacing around because I was still fired up about it,” he said.
Since his younger brother was named Bennett’s successor four years ago, the G-Men have won the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division titles in each year. Pfleger said that when Matt decided to step down, it only seemed right that he carries the torch that was passed down from Bennett to continue the same standard of success.
“I wanted to make sure everything is running the way that we had run it and kind of just keep things consistent with the kids,” he added. “The kids are comfortable with the way we do things. I am not saying we don’t switch stuff up with training and stuff like that but just with training and the way we run the program and way that we treat the kids.”
