When Mike Rusek gets inducted into the New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Sunday in Princeton, he won’t view it as an individual honor. Instead, the longtime Harrison High School boys soccer coach says he will share the honor with his younger brother John and their father Mickey.
That’s because from the moment Mike was hired as Harrison’s head coach in 2000, John has been by his side as an assistant. For the last 10 years, they’ve been joined by Mickey, who became a volunteer assistant after more than three decades of coaching boys and girls soccer in Kearny.
“It really feels like a family award between me and John and my dad,” said Mike Rusek, who along with John served as a Kearny ball boy growing up. “It really makes us feel more blessed that this is happening. I really feel like John and my dad will be sitting there and they’ll be smiling as if they’re getting this award. And in my ways, they are.”
Mike was 24 and had been the freshman coach at Kearny, his alma mater, when he was offered a head coaching position and a job teaching history.
The hire came with a request from Rusek and an expectation from administration. Mike wanted to be able to hire John, who had just finished playing in Brazil and was attending Rutgers-Newark, as an assistant. Then superintendent O. John DiSalvowanted a return to Harrison’s state championship glory years.
Both men got their wish.
John joined the staff and together they, along with an incredible wave of incoming talent from the middle schools, helped bring another soccer dynasty to West Hudson. The first five years of Rusek’s tenure saw the Blue Tide win state championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. They also reached another final in 2004. Harrison orchestrated another three-peat from 2006-2008, then added another state title to its legacy in 2014.
“In Harrison, the town expects those titles and so do we,” Mike Rusek said. “The kids expect it. So the kids have that kind of pressure year in and year out, but that’s what you want. I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything.”
“What makes Harrison so unique is all the nationalities that are here. It’s not just one country that’s represented in the town,” said John Rusek. “The common denominator is to try to play pretty soccer and play soccer that kids are proud of playing. That was one thing that we felt really fit with these kids.”
Harrison’s wide-open, possession-based style isn’t just pretty, but wildly successful – to the tune of 358 wins in 18 seasons under Rusek. Together, Mike and John have won seven state championships, 11 sectional titles and two Hudson County Tournament titles.
While Mike is the head coach and the one who ultimately makes the final decisions, the three Ruseks will often consult during the game about possible changes in personnel and strategy, with, in most cases, the majority vote winning out.
“It’s a lot of fun when it’s going well. When it’s not…sometimes we butt heads and then we need to see each other at Sunday dinner,” said Mike Rusek with a laugh.
“I think all three of us just balance each other out,” added John. “After games and practices, we’re talking in parking lots for a good 20, 30 minutes about a different formation or trying a player in a different position. We all kind of feed off of each other.”
As hard as it may be for Mike to be up there on the stage Sunday without John and Mickey standing beside him, the idea of roaming the sidelines without either there is even more difficult to envision at this point.
While neither Mike nor John have any intentions of stepping aside anytime soon, the idea of one coaching at Harrison without his brother and father there is one neither can truly comprehend.
“That’s the difficult part. I think we’re at the point now where if one of us says it’s time to step aside, the other two might join them,” Mike said. “I can’t imagine, at this point, coaching without them with me.”
