There was a time when Dustin Kupcik couldn’t stand Springstead. There was a time, not too long ago, when he envisioned himself as a head football coach.
But his professional life has often led him down different paths, and so it has brought him to his brand new job, as athletic director at Springstead, taking over for the retired Bob Levija, who had held the position since 2001.
It’s certainly an unexpected turn of events for the 2004 Central grad, who returned to his alma mater as a teacher and football coach in 2008-09, but was forced to transfer to Springstead halfway through the following school year.
“I never imagined myself having anything to do with Springstead, especially as athletic director. But I’m blessed it worked out that way,” Kupcik said. “It’s been fun (being AD). It’s been exciting and different. It’s just a different set of challenges before you. There have been things that popped up that Bob told me about and things that have popped up Bob didn’t warn me about.
“I’m trying to have fun. But it’s both good and bad, and I’m putting my own spin on some things and kind of taking what (Levija) did, his passion and vision for Springstead, and continuing that, all the while putting my own flair on it.”
Kupcik’s road to this point began in earnest during his senior year playing football for the Bears, when a dislocated elbow sidelined him for a huge chunk of the season. He found himself coaching up his replacement, which caught the attention of then Central head coach John Wilkinson.
That spring, Kupcik had joined Wilkinson’s staff and stuck with the Bears for the next two seasons before leaving to earn his degree at Florida State. At that point he had hopes of coaching at the college level, but soon decided it wasn’t for him.
After initially returning to Central, he ended up at Springstead and served as offensive coordinator the past three years. Meanwhile, Levija saw his potential replacement.
“It’s something that Coach Levija put a bug in my ear about two years ago and I told him, ‘Heck no.’ I appreciated the thought and was humbled by it, but I wanted to be a head football coach,” Kupcik said. “It kind of wasn’t until the end of football season that it was something that came back into my head.”
A father of two sons, Kupcik had decided he could no longer maintain a proper balance in his life without stepping away from coaching.
“My priorities were out of whack,” Kupcik said. “I was a mediocre coach, I was a mediocre father, I was a mediocre husband. I was busting my butt and not meeting my expectations in football or at home.
“Being athletic director is busy, but I still have that flexibility. You don’t have 80 to 100 kids waiting on you every day to start practice and help them get recruited.”
Though not officially on the job, Kupcik spent the last few months of school working with Levija, allowing for a smooth transition. He’s already overseeing changes to the facilities, including the painting of murals on the inside and outside of the gym, and the repaving of outside courts. Next up will be replacing the rubberized blue gym floor that was installed last decade, returning to a more traditional wood surface.
Last month, Levija admitted the more computer-savvy Kupcik could do an even better job than he had. To that end, Springstead athletics has established a Twitter account and will soon unveil a website, springsteadathletics.com.
“I’m big with communication,” Kupcik said. “The more communication you have, the better your relationship will be, the better the program is going to run, the better the school is going to run, the better the county is going to run.
“In this day and age, there’s so many forms of communication. At the same time, everyone is on social media. Everything is online and can be accessed any time. But to me, it’s about communication.”
In general, Kupcik wants to be a leader for change within the entire county. At the same time, he doesn’t want Springstead to divert from its recent winning ways.
“Of course I’m bias, but I think Springstead is the best school in the county and I want to continue that,” Kupcik said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity given to me and hopefully I can fill Bob’s shoes.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.