A couple weeks after guiding the Eaton Rapids football program to its first victory in two years, Mark Raczkowski is out as coach.
Raczkowski was in his second season leading the Greyhounds.
Raczkowski said he was removed from all team communications on Saturday, Sept. 27 — a day after Eaton Rapids suffered a 7-6 road CAAC White loss to Lansing Catholic.
Raczkowski said he was physically threatened and verbally abused by some parents of players following the loss and his wife had to plead with Eaton Rapids athletic director Devin Milhelm, who was nearby, to intervene. Raczkowski said he told Milhelm in the heat of the moment Friday if he wanted him gone, he would resign. The next day Raczkowski had been removed from the team communications and several assistants had been appointed to take over the program.
Raczkowski said he never submitted a resignation in writing.
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Messages seeking comment from Milhelm and Eaton Rapids Superintendent Kevin Dufresne on Wednesday, Oct. 1 were not returned.
Raczkowski met with the Eaton Rapids administration on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
“The only thing I feel bad about is I haven’t been able to talk to the team besides that night,” Raczkowski said. “I had a meeting with the administration and the big wigs and they’re standing by the resignation. There’s nothing I can do. All I did was want to change the culture and the program at Eaton Rapids and people have stopped me.”
Eaton Rapids plays at Olivet this week before closing the season with home games against Portland, Sexton and Milan.
Raczkowski, whose previous coaching stops included working Jackson, Camden-Frontier and East Jackson, said he is disappointed about not being able to further help improve a Greyhound program that has won a total of four games since the 2020 season and last had a winning season in 2014.
“It was a total sad day and the kids are the ones that are hurting,” Raczkowski said. “We were changing things. The culture was changing and the attitudes were changing and now I’m without a job.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Mark Raczkowski out as Eaton Rapids football coach
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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