The Oxford High School Athletic Department announced that 29-year-old Jeff Zoli would become the new track and field coach for the upcoming season.
He replaces former coach Andrew McDonald, who is taking a leave of absence this spring to focus on a young family.
‘I think its a great opportunity,? said Zoli. ‘Lots of great returning athletes; all the coaches that are coming back are all wise beyond their years and have established such a great program, it’s a really easy job to jump into.?
He has spent the last six years coaching girls track and field at Stoney Creek High School, which allowed him to establish relationships with some of the current assistant head coaches.
When he heard about the open position, he contacted them to get their opinion.
Since the first day he took the job, he has seen a lot of similarities between the coaches at Stoney Creek and at Oxford. ‘I’m coming from a program at Stoney Creek where they had great coach chemistry, where everyone knew each other’s style and backed each other up and so far, what I have seen here, its the same way.?
One of the goals that he would like to establish this year is continuing the tradition of excellence that Coach McDonald and previous coaches set. ‘It’s up to me and the rest of the coaches to help lead the kids to (do) what we think they can do,? he said.
Zoli said that he enjoys coaching track because it is so much fun. ‘Track to me, it’s more fun on a daily basis because you can see improvement over time and its not repetitive. Everything is kind of different every day.?
When he is not coaching track, he is a substitute teacher for many of the science classes at OHS. Zoli said that he started working last year as a long term sub, and this year he is at the high school nearly every single day.
He graduated from Western Michigan University in 2003 with a degree in Secondary Education in Science. Before teaching at Oxford, he previously taught in Anchor Bay and Rochester school districts.
He is married for three-and-a-half-years to his wife Katie, who is a nurse at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. They have an 18-month-old daughter named Allison.