Although he has not confirmed to St. Francis de Sales where he is headed next, Dan Chipka, 33, informed the school Friday he was resigning his positions as a teacher and as the Knights' head football coach to take a coaching position at the collegiate level.
“I just want to express my gratitude to those who have been a part of it, whether it be players or coaches or support staff,” Chipka said. “Today was pretty difficult. I had to say goodbye to a lot of kids, a lot of faculty members, and 16 assistant coaches. But everyone has been very understanding and supportive.”
Chipka declined, at this time, to reveal the college program he will be joining because of an agreement with the institution’s human resources department. His resignation was unexpected.
“While Dan's announcement comes as a surprise to us, we are not surprised colleges were pursuing him,” St. Francis athletic director Justin Edgell stated in a media release on behalf of the school. “He is an effective coach and mentor. He has built our program up, and he is leaving it in a far better place.
“We appreciate Dan's passion and dedication as a teacher and a coach and wish him the best in his next endeavor. We know he will excel and produce results wherever he goes.”
Chipka was 16-22 overall and 11-16 in Three Rivers Athletic Conference play over his four seasons guiding the Knights, a record that is deceiving considering the turnaround that he led from 2017 to 2020.
After serving as head football coach at Waite for three seasons (15-16 overall from 2014-16), Chipka was hired at St. Francis on the heels of the Knights' first-ever 0-10 season in 2016.
That was the low point of a three-year 3-27 stretch for St. Francis, which had long been a local and statewide football power under longtime head coach Dick Cromwell.
St. Francis made only one playoff appearance (in 2013) after Cromwell's departure before Chipka's Knights reached the postseason the past two years. His 2020 team ended the coronavirus pandemic-abbreviated regular season at 4-2 (all in TRAC games). St. Francis finished 6-3 overall after beating North Ridgeville and Anthony Wayne in postseason play.
Chipka addressed the program's improvement in a Facebook post he made Friday that publicly announced his decision after he had informed the school.
“It is with much emotion that I have decided to resign as head football coach at St. Francis de Sales,” Chipka's post read. “There is never a good time for these types of decisions, but after much thought and prayer, the time has come for me to pursue other opportunities.
“Four years ago, I had a vision to invest my time, effort, and energy to build this football program into one that we could all be proud of. It was my goal to improve the program each day and, if ever I left, that I would leave the program in a better place than when I got here.”
That sentiment was echoed by Edgell.
“He always preached to his kids to leave the jersey in a better place than where you found it, and he definitely did that for us,” Edgell said. “Going from 0-10 to 2-8, and then 4-6 and 6-5 and 6-3, and having two playoff victories this year, he did some things that hadn't been done in several years here.
“The [2020] victory over Whitmer, and over Anthony Wayne in the playoffs, those stand out to me.”
Edgell admitted he was caught off guard by the departure.
“It came as a surprise to all of us,” Edgell said, “but we're thankful for what he did for us, and we wish him the best, to him and his wife, in their next endeavors.
“He will be missed. He brought in a level of excitement that made the community and the alumni base excited to come to a game. It made kids excited to come to St. Francis and play football, and be part of this rebuild that he's done. We're hoping we can continue with that.”
Edgell said the search for a successor will be begin immediately, especially with offseason training in process, and preseason conditioning to begin in July.
“We still have a lot of staff that are in the building that I'm fairly positive are going to stick on here and carry on his enthusiasm and excitement,” Edgell said. “We're going to be all right.
“It's not great timing, and I think that's fairly obvious. We're navigating those waters now, and hopefully we can figure this out quickly.”
First Published June 4, 2021, 3:12 p.m.
