<em>College Wrestling:</em> Drexel's Jack Childs Set To Retire
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It is rare in this day and age that a coach gets an opportunity to decide on his own when he will call it a career. Jack Childs, of course, isn't most coaches.
This is his 35th season at the helm of the Drexel wrestling program, and he has announced that he will retire when it is over.
Childs (at left in top photo) is the active NCAA Division I coaching wins leader, with 416 -- all of those wins have come at Drexel. Throw in his coaching experience at all NCAA levels, and that victory total balloons to 507.
In March, the NCAA National Championships will be held right here in Philadelphia, at the Wells Fargo Center, and Childs says that presents a great stage for one final bow.
"It's a perfect time for me to say goodbye to coaching, right here in my backyard," Childs told KYW Newsradio.
Childs has coached hundreds of wrestlers during his time at Drexel, and made a significant impact on many of them -- including his senior captain this season, 174-pounder Justin Wieller.
"When I am at home talking with some of my friends or anybody," Weiller said, "I always mention that I'm wrestling for one of the winningest coaches of all time. I'm proud of that fact. I'm proud to be wrestling for coach Jack Childs."
Hear the entire Jack Childs/Justin Weiller interview in this CBS Philly SportsPod...
You can't draw up a résumé much more impressive than the one Childs has put together. In addition to the career win total, his Drexel teams have notched 22 seasons of double-figure dual-meet victories.
He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. in 2006, and he has won four East Coast Wrestling Association "Coach of the Year" awards: in 1980, 1985, 1994, and 1999.
Childs has also had the rare opportunity to coach his two sons, Jesse and Mike, and watch his daughter Elizabeth serve as a captain of the tennis team at Drexel.
As for the concept of retirement becoming more "real" as the season rolls along, Childs says that is definitely the case.
"Every day, I look at it in a different perspective," Childs muses. "And it is not a job -- it's my life. So I don't just go to work. But I go with a little bit more open eyes now, and anticipation of what is going to be. These guys (his wrestlers) know I get very emotional at times, but I like to say, 'Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.' "
As for his plans for retirement, Childs says he wants to travel with his wife, Anne, spend loads of times with his grandchildren and, of course, keep a close eye on a Drexel wrestling program that will forever be close to his heart.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060.
