Ondriezek steps down as Mariner football coach

Published 11:31 am Monday, December 8, 2014

For the first time in more than two decades, Mariner High School finds itself in the market for a head football coach.

John Ondriezek, the Marauders’ coach since 1993, announced his resignation last week.

“I’ve coached for 40 years, it’s just time for me to do some other things in my life,” Ondriezek said. “Really, there is no other reason than that. I’m not going out because I don’t want to be involved in coaching anymore, I just want to do some other things in life.”

Ondriezek began his coaching career in Florida. He came to Mariner as an assistant coach in 1982 and took over as head coach in 1993.

“It’s just been a terrific experience,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding working with high school athletes. I’ve developed some great friendships with the athletes I’ve worked with over the years and also the coaches and teachers that I’ve worked with — some lifelong friendships.”

Ondriezek guided the Marauders to the state playoffs five times, including an appearance in the 1998 Class 3A state championship game, where they lost to Capital 29-27.

In 2006, Mariner fell to Oak Harbor 43-42 in a memorable first-round state playoff game in Mount Vernon that took two overtimes to decide. Oak Harbor went on to win the Class 4A state championship, surrendering a total of 46 points over its next three playoff games.

Another notable season was 2003, when Ondriezek had the opportunity to coach his son, Matt.

“That was special to me,” he said. “My wife was cheer adviser, my daughter was a cheerleader and my son played, so that was a fun year for us.”

This past season, Mariner finished 4-6. The Marauders lost their first three games, but rebounded to win four of their next six. They clinched a 4A Quad District playoff berth with a 41-40 win over Snohomish on the last weekend of the regular season.

“Every year was different and every group was unique in its own way,” Ondriezek said of his teams. “I just had fun every year.”

During the course of his coaching career at Mariner, Ondriezek made a tremendous impact on the school’s student-athletes, athletic director Nate Duchesne said in a press release.

“Coach Ondriezek instilled discipline in his athletes, both on and off the field,” Duchesne said. “He held his athletes to a high standard in the hallway, the classroom, and in the community. Coach O worked tirelessly with the Mariner Marauder Booster Club to provide gear and essentials to athletes in need. He saw to it that no student-athlete was ever left out. Coach O loved his players and he treated them as his own. We would like to thank Coach Ondriezek for representing Mariner High School so well — his impact on the football program and the Mariner community will be missed.”

Mariner plans to hire a new coach before the first of year, Duchesne said. Ondriezek said he’s pleased the transition will be a quick one.

“(It) was important to me that there was a very smooth transition and that there was not a big wait time for our athletes so that they just felt comfortable that the program was going to continue to move forward,” Ondriezek said. “A new coach will be named soon and all the assistants are coming back, so the program is just going to continue.”