By Bobby Narang
Veteran high school coach Lee Maciejewski is having a memorable year.
After serving as a head coach and assistant coach for nearly five decades, Maciejewski has added a few more milestones to his legendary career this year.
In the 2022-23 boys basketball season, Maciejewski experienced the State tournament for the first time in his lengthy career, when he served as an assistant coach on Downers Grove North’s Class 4A third-place team.
“It was such a thrill of a lifetime, and after 47 years coaching basketball, I finally got my shot going downstate,” Maciejewski said.
This season Maciejewski is embarking on another first in his extensive career and set to experience another round of thrills, when he accepted the varsity head football coaching job at Westmont. He becomes the fourth new coach for the Sentinels since 2017. Westmont is a member of the eight-team Chicagoland Prairie Conference.
“I’m excited,” Maciejewski said. “I was a head basketball coach and softball coach for 25 years, and applied one time for a head football coaching job at Glenbard West. But they wouldn’t give me three head coaching jobs at the same time. Westmont is a good opportunity. With football now a year-round sport, the kids work out all year, they have leagues and passing leagues. The opportunity to be a head coach in a big school just didn’t present itself. But Westmont has only 375 kids. Every kid who plays football plays another sport.”
Maciejewski said he’s excited for the challenge of building the Sentinels into a consistent winner, in part due to the help of a experienced and close staff members, which includes defensive coordinator Joe Zubic, secondary coach Ryan Wenkman, defensive line coach Aaron Cronin and offensive line coach Max Hartzman. Maciejewski, a former softball head coach at Hinsdale Central High School, spent the past eight seasons as an assistant offensive and defensive line football coach at Lisle.
“I feel I’ve won half the battle at Westmont,” he said. “It’s a Blue Ribbon school, got good kids, plus the administration has been very supportive. We have a small program, but those kids have come in the Summer and worked hard to get ready for the season. We still need more kids to come out, even if they missed Summer. We have developed a nice culture and our numbers will build because of this group.
“I also know almost the whole staff. I know Joe Zubic really well and he provides a wealth of knowledge. I’m kind of connected to all of the staff, so there’s a camaraderie among the staff that you don’t get at bigger places. Our purpose is to get these kids better and show what a little school can do.”
Maciejewski said he understands the challenge of building the program, especially with a small number of players. The Sentinels have reached the football playoffs just twice since 1977, according to IHSA records. In total, Westmont has created just six winning seasons, including a 5-4 record in 2018.