SAN ANTONIO — Van Fuschak, head football coach at Antonian for the past nine seasons, is retiring after a long career in the high school coaching ranks.
Fuschak's retirement, effective Feb. 28, ends a 44-year career that started at San Marcos Middle School in 1975.
"I've been married for 46 years and my wife (Sun Ann) told me that if I didn't quit, she was going to divorce me," Fuschak joked Friday. "Seriously, I just felt like it was time to leave coaching. Sue and I talked all fall about doing this. We really haven't had an opportunity to do vacations or spend time together during different parts of the year, not just during the summer."
Fuschak went 63-37 in his nine seasons at Antonian and led the Apaches to the TAPPS Division I state semifinals last year, when they finished 9-4.
Fuschak, 66, was 115-99-1 in 19 seasons as head football coach at MacArthur before retiring from the public-school system and going to Antonian in 2011.
"It was sort of like at Mac," Fuschak said. "My last year over there, we were very good and went to the (state) quarterfinals. This past year, we had a great year at Antonian . . . went to the (state) semifinals in TAPPS. That's the second time in nine years we've done that.
"Really, I enjoyed my time at Antonian. I met a lot of good people there. They were really good to me and my family. It's different at a private school. You've got more parental involvement. The school is a close-knot community."
Two of Fuschak's sons, Blake and Bryce, also coach at Antonian. Blake, the second of three sons, joined his father's staff as offensive coordinator in 2011 and stayed with him throughout his tenure. Bryce, the youngest son, also joined the Apaches' staff and coaches the team's wide receivers.
Two of Fuschak's MacArthur teams made the state semifinals, with one reaching the title game by forfeit. A San Marcos native, Fuschak coached at Mac for 25 years. He was the Brahmas' offensive coordinator for six years, first under John Osborne and then Jack Moss, before succeeding the latter as head coach in 1992.
Fuschak coached in San Marcos for only one year before moving to San Antonio to coach at Neff Middle School in the Northside ISD. He went to Marshall High School in 1979 and stayed with the Rams until joining Osborne's staff at MacArthur in 1986.
Fuschak's last MacArthur team finished 12-2 after losing to eventual state champion Steele in the state quarterfinals. The practice field was named in Fuschak's honor in August 2018.
"Coach Fuschak has been an incredible leader within the school and the football program," Antonian athletic director Devlyn Lovell said in the Antonian news release. "He changed the culture of the program and his character influenced his athletes to make them better students, family members, teammates, adults, and contributing members of society. His vision of success has put Antonian in a position to be successful for years to come.”
While Fuschak had to adjust to coaching at a private school for the first time in his career when he went to Antonian, his philosophy remain unchanged.
"I think you go in with the mindset that you're not going to change what you do," Fuschak said. "Just because it's a private school, we're not going to change how we coach. We're very aggressive in our coaching. I think you do that and you're sound in what you do.
"I think the other thing is that we've had good coaches at Antonian. I was fortunate to have had an outstanding staff. They were all public-school guys. I think a lot of private-school head coaches have trouble finding good public-school coaches who have a lot of experience. That's been the core of my staff. I think it makes a big difference because they've been through the big games."
Fuschak's staff included former public-school coaches Craig Kirby (Clark), Paul Lindy (MacArthur), Bill Perrenot (Driscoll Middle School) and Mike Inco (Kennedy). The late Steve Kurtz, former head coach at South San, was the Apaches' defensive coordinator before he moved to Corpus Christi.
Fuschak didn't take long to adjust to the private-school football landscape, building a robust program that pushed participation to an all-time high in Antonian history.
"When you win, kids want to come here and be a part of it," Fuschak said. "Success breeds success. They want to achieve. I think our kids are motivated because of their parents. The parents are motivated. Our kids are strong academically, and they're leaders among the kids on campus.
"But the truth is, we don't recruit here. We get what we get. I don't ever try to get public-school kids. I coached in public schools too long. I'm not going to do that to people I know. If their parents want to bring them here, that's good. I don't have contact with any of the middle schools. I don't have contact with any of the (middle-school) coaches, or parents. I don't do that."
