PORT ANGELES — Jim Michalczik, one of the best prep football players to compete on the North Olympic Peninsula, will join the new Washington Huskies football staff as soon as today.
Michalczik, a 1984 Port Angeles High School graduate, will become the offensive coordinator for new head coach Steve Sarkisian’s staff, Michalczik’s father — Joe Michalczik — confirmed Monday night.
Jim Michalczik was in Seattle on Monday and not available for comment.
“He will meet with the team [today],” Joe Michalczik said.
Currently the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the California Golden Bears, Jim Michalczik will juggle two jobs while the Bears prepare to meet Miami in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 27 in San Francisco, just like his new boss, Sarkisian, is doing for Southern Cal as the Trojans get ready for Penn State in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Jim Michalczik is taking the same position Sarkisian held at USC.
The Michalczik family has lived in Port Angeles since 1969, Joe said. The elder Michalczik is a retired Elwha Dam generating station manager.
The younger Michalczik became a part of local yore as a 6-foot-3, 225-pound star tight end and defensive end for the Port Angeles Roughriders.
All-American guard
He was one of the few area athletes to make the jump to Division I, becoming a The Sporting News honorable mention All-American guard for Washington State.
Jim Michalczik tried his hand in the NFL as a free agent for the Arizona Cardinals as a guard and made it until the final cut, just missing a spot on the team.
Instead, Michalczik started what has turned into a highly successful coaching career, beginning at the University of Miami in 1990, moving on to Montana State in 1992, Oregon State in 1999 and California in 2002.
Over the years he has coached defensive line, offensive line, tight ends and for three years he was the special teams coordinator at Oregon State.
Michalczik will be coaching in his 10th bowl game when the Bears take on his old team, Miami, and he also played for the Cougars in the 1988 Aloha Bowl his senior year.
Washington State beat Houston 24-22 that year in the Aloha Bowl.
Michalczik will be moving to Seattle with his wife, Jennifer, and sons Max and Chase.
