Panagakis takes over at Wheeling
Peter Panagakis had always dreamed about being a head varsity football coach. He just never thought that the current circumstances would put him there.
When Wheeling head coach Brian Hauk resigned last Wednesday due to personal reasons, Panagakis, who has been on the staff as an assistant coach for 16 years, was named the new head coach of the Wildcats.
"It went down pretty quick," Panagakis said. "I was on the staff already, so it worked out pretty easy."
Panagakis, who turned 55 last Monday, spent 30 years in law enforcement with the Wheeling Police Department. After he retired, he has spent the last five years working at Wheeling High School as an instructional assistant and last year on the security force.
He also has been an assistant football coach since 2005 and has coached under former Wheeling coaches Dave Dunbar, Brent Pearlman and Hauk.
Panagakis has been the head coach of freshman and sophomore teams under all of them. Last season he was a position coach for the Wildcats, coaching receivers and linebackers.
He also coached on the youth level for 30 years in Hoffman Estates, where he was the league president. He was also the Chicagoland Pop Warner youth president.
"I had a conversation with (Wheeling Athletic Director) Don Rowley and when he asked me if I wanted the job," Panagakis said, "I quickly said, '(Darn) right I do.' "
Panagakis takes over a Wheeling team that has lost 19 games in a row, dating back to September 21 of 2018. He had a roster in the "low 20s" when he took over a week ago. But that number has now grown to 37.
"Some teams just reload, but we are rebuilding," Panagakis said. "We can't blame the pandemic. We have great, tough kids here with some of them playing football for the first time. We will all be accountable, the players and the coaches. The all know my philosophy: Family first. And we are going to build around that family."
In a meeting with the football team last Wednesday, Hauk resigned. Panagakis was then introduced as the new head coach.
"I said, 'Let's get to practice,' " Pakagakis said. "And we haven't missed a beat."
Panagakis said it is an honor to be coaching in the Mid-Suburban East.
"It is a dream to coach in the best school district in the state," Panagakis said. "And to be a head coach in a conference and be able to join the best coaches in the state is an honor and a privilege."