What would he do when he grew up? The possibilities swirled in the mind of a young BJ Zeleznik.
“Flights of fancy,” he calls them.
“I loved archeology. I loved history. I loved space … all of those things that capture the imagination,” Zeleznik said.
In 1994, the ink still moist on his LeRoy High School diploma, Zeleznik enrolled at Augustana College. He had settled on a career. He would play football at the Division III school, study sports medicine and become an athletic trainer.
“But as it (college) progressed, I just did not find anything that I was very comfortable with,” Zeleznik said.
The mind swirled again, seeking “comfort.” And there it was, where it had been all along.
“How many times do you see that the child does what the parent does? It’s because you know it. You grew up around it,” Zeleznik said. “You understand it at maybe a deeper level. So I got to my junior year of college and went into the education program. And that was it.”
Zeleznik decided to follow the lead of his father. Jim Zeleznik was a teacher, coach, athletic director and dean of students in a 33-year career at LeRoy High School, including 22 seasons as head football coach.
Last month, BJ Zeleznik, LeRoy’s athletic director, completed his 21st season as the Panthers’ head coach. If you’re into “like father, like son” stories, the Zelezniks are here for you. They’ve taken it a step further than most.
BJ Zeleznik has been elected to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. When he is inducted in March in the Class of 2024, he will join his father, a 2003 inductee.
LeRoy has a 130-81 record under BJ Zeleznik, including a 9-2 mark this season. His teams have made 12 playoff appearances, with the 2003 Panthers placing second in the state in Class 1A. Jim Zeleznik’s tenure produced a 140-79 record, 12 playoff berths and the 1996 Class 2A state championship.
A Zeleznik has been LeRoy’s head coach for all but two seasons since 1979. While a young BJ didn’t see that coming, perhaps he should have.
His father did.
“He was coming to practice with me when he was 4 years old,” Jim Zeleznik said. “He would watch videos with me when he was young. Sometimes, we’d have coaches meetings at the house and he would try to sneak in to watch film with the guys. I’d have to chase him out because we were talking about personnel. He knew some of the kids and some of his friends were the brothers (of players).
“So he’s always been around LeRoy football. He lived LeRoy football. It didn’t surprise me at all when he wanted to come back and coach in the program.”
BJ Zeleznik was on staff for his father’s final season in 2000. The previous year, he had been offensive coordinator at Heyworth under Darren Hess, who was inducted last year into the IHSFCA Hall of Fame.
BJ coached defensive backs at LeRoy in 2000, then was defensive coordinator in 2001 and 2002 under head coach Gary Tipsord. The 2001 squad, in the final year of a highly successful co-op with Tri-Valley, placed second in the state in Class 3A.
In 2003, with Tipsord moving into administration, BJ Zeleznik became head coach at age 27.
Was it daunting?
“At the time, you don’t think that way,” he said. “As a young coach, you’re ready to go and ready to continue the success. But looking back on it, the decade prior to me taking over was the most successful decade in the history of our program. We really stood on the shoulders of giants.
“There’s always a lot of chatter about how some people have to build the car and some people get the keys to the Ferrari. In a sense, I took over a program that was already humming.”
The 2003 team, led by seniors who had faced 3A competition during the co-op, finished 13-1, losing in the 1A state title game in double overtime.
“A wonderful team,” BJ said.
The football pipeline
His challenge moving forward was “recruiting LeRoy families.” The co-op was gone, and without Tri-Valley’s contribution, no longer were there 90 to 100 players in the program.
“We had to rethink how we were going to operate in terms of trying to maximize participation,” he said. “It was getting back to a full community-based program just here in LeRoy.
“The gentleman who runs our youth program played for my dad in 1996, Bo Owens, and he gets it. He loves LeRoy football. We’ve done things to ensure that kids enjoy their experience.”
For one, there is no tackling in the youth program. The first exposure players have to tackle football is when they get to high school.
“That way, we don’t have kids quitting early,” BJ Zeleznik said. “It goes back to the concept of maximization of participation for a small-school program to survive.”
LeRoy reached the Class 1A playoff quarterfinals in 2012 and the semifinals in 2015. The Panthers made the second round this season with a third-generation Zeleznik in uniform. Bo Zeleznik, son of BJ and Amy Zeleznik, was LeRoy’s standout junior quarterback.
His grandfather remains close to the program, serving as a volunteer assistant coach. This year was Jim Zeleznik’s 53rd coaching football.
His imprint on LeRoy football is evident by the reliance on a run-oriented offense, stout defense and physical play. BJ, who played quarterback and safety for his father, has kept those as the cornerstones of the program.
“It allows you to be consistent,” he said. “It allows you to compete.”
BJ, 48, plans to continue coaching. He enjoys its challenges and rewards, saying, “I make an effort just to be positive and be committed to helping each kid and trying to serve their needs the best I can.”
How do you do that? Communication plays a big role.
In that regard, Jim Zeleznik sees his son as a natural.
“BJ has always been very good with people,” he said. “I can remember watching him in baseball. He played first base. He would strike up a conversation with the umpire at first base as if he had known the guy his whole life. He had that type of personality to become a head coach and be in charge of working with people.
“His mother (Carol) and I are very proud of him and what he has done.”
Family tree
Their pride extends beyond football. In addition to 16-year-old Bo, BJ and Amy Zeleznik have two children with disabilities: Abraham, 18, and Aurelia, 13. Both have special needs requiring extra care.
“They have their plate full,” Jim Zeleznik said of BJ and Amy. “But they’ve been exemplary parents and have done a fantastic job with all of the kids. And Amy has been great as a coach’s wife. You can’t do this without a very supportive spouse.”
BJ Zeleznik described his wife as “incredible.” A speech and language pathologist, Amy is the star of the family, her husband said, for the sacrifices she has made and her willingness to embrace LeRoy football.
BJ will tell you she and many others have helped him succeed.
“You think about all the people it takes to run a program,” he said. “Some phase in and some phase out and some answer the call to give their time to the kids and the program. We’ve had hundreds of people in my 21 years. I think back to when I was a kid in the 1980s and 1990s … so many people have made this program what it is.
“It is truly a community program. As the individual charged with running it, we receive these types of recognitions. But there are so many who go unrecognized. That’s too bad.”
BJ Zeleznik is a Hall of Famer just the same.
And just like Dad.
