Issue date: 8/23/04 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Stephen Haas John McInerney coached cross country at Eastern for 12 years before resigning to teach full time and spend more time with his children Colin, 7, and Riley, 10.

Headlining a flurry of coaching changes at Eastern was the head coaching change of the men's and women's cross country team.

After spending 12 years as the men's coach and 10 years as the women's cross country coach at Eastern, John McInerney resigned from the school as a coach but did not completely stop working on the campus.

Instead of continuing his coaching career, McInerney chose to take some time off for himself and his family. He did so by retiring as the cross country coach, but staying at Eastern to become a full-time teacher in the physical education department.

Describing the lifestyle he has lived in athletics since the 1970s as "stressful," McInerney felt there was no better time than now to live the family life.

In an effort to see more of his family, which consists of his wife Peggy and two sons Riley and Colin who are 10 and seven years old respectively, on a more consistent basis "Coach Mac" traded in the title of coach for dad and husband.

"For me (retiring from coaching) gives me the chance to teach full time as well as finally getting some more time at home," McInerney said. "Really since 1972 my life has focused around running or coaching cross country, and that has been a pretty crazy way to live."

However, over that time the former coach has not regretted a moment of the time he has spent coaching the players who have performed so well for him over his career at Eastern.

Last year's finish by the men's team won McInerney his sixth Ohio Valley Conference championship. McInerney's team had spent only two years in the OVC when the men did not win the conference championship.

But now that 12 years of coaching have come and gone at Eastern, McInerney had the unfamiliar feeling of not spending a Saturday at practice and in his Lantz Arena office preparing for the upcoming season.

"Right now I would usually be thinking about practice, or just coming back from one in the morning," McInerney said. "I would be thinking about the opening of the season and how the team was, but I'm not complaining about having a weekend to relax instead."

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