Buttar, Shrodek together again

Tony Buttar admires Mike Shrodek's grit.
That was never more evident than when Shrodek ran the 800 meters for Buttar, then the coach at Warren John F. Kennedy High, starting in the late 1970s.
Shrodek qualified for the state meet three straight years in the 800.
"We moved him into the 800 meters in the middle of his sophomore year," Buttar recalled of Shrodek. "He qualified for the state after running that event for just one month.
"He would give you total all-out effort," Buttar said. "He passed out at the finish line giving such an effort."
That personal drive is why Buttar chose to reunite with Shrodek.
On board: Now the varsity track and field coach at Niles High, Shrodek hired Buttar as his assistant coach to work with the sprinters and hurdlers.
"It's interesting," said Shrodek, 38. "Sometimes, you don't want to give him any instructions because you feel you're still under him. But we have similar philosophies in coaching, so that makes it pretty easy."
Shrodek calls himself and Buttar "old-school coaches" in an era of "new-school athletes." Discipline hasn't been forgotten.
"We think along the same lines," said Buttar, 63. "I went with Mike because he works hard and he's a good young coach. He puts a lot of time into it and he's dedicated."
Background: The last 35 years of Buttar's 40-year coaching tenure were spent at JFK. His career began at Mooney in 1960.
Buttar's resignation from JFK in 1999 was marked by controversy -- he claimed the school wasn't supporting the track and field program -- and he took the next year off.
"When Emory King won the state title in the 300-meter hurdles, I figured that would be a good time to resign and go out on top," said Buttar, who remained JFK's guidance counselor until 2000.
Buttar's journey from JFK to Niles wasn't a straight shot. He followed a path that took him through Warren Harding and Youngstown State.
"This is a complicated process," he said.
Warren Harding athletic director Paul Trina hired Buttar as an assistant coach, a position Buttar held for one month in the fall.
Then, he was informed about an opening for a hurdlers and sprinters coach at Youngstown State. The Penguins' salary offer was what tempted Buttar and eventually drove him away from Warren Harding, which he has called "a sleeping giant" in track and field.
"I went up to Youngstown thinking of the money and nothing else," Buttar said. "I stayed there for six weeks. It was the worst mistake I ever made in my life."
Buttar discovered the YSU job wasn't for him. The time and travel was going to be a burden.
That's when Shrodek and Niles came into the picture and seemed right for Buttar, who did not want to be a head coach again.
"He has been asking me for the last year or two [to join Niles]," Buttar said of Shrodek. "After Harding and Youngstown, I felt an obligation. He was nice enough to offer me the position after I had turned it down."
Personal goal: Now that he's back in coaching, Buttar has set his sights on matching and surpassing Ohio's record for coaching longevity, which is 42 years, held by the late Waldo Ward of Columbiana.
Ward, Buttar and Johnstown-Monroe's Cletus Beam are the only coaches in Ohio to have coached at least 40 years in track and field, said Bob Kline, who tracks the longevity marks of Ohio coaches.
Buttar is two seasons away from tying Ward's mark and, having some talented underclassmen at Niles, is energized to do so.
"I certainly did not do it all by myself," said Buttar, of a career that has lasted into a fifth decade.
"In my 40 years as coach, I have been an assistant -- the good Lord has been the head coach and I am working for him."
Buttar is also working for his former 800-meter runner, and that's just the way he likes it.
XBrian Richesson covers high school sports for The Vindicator.