Q&A with Marion HS athletic director Ryan Goodisky
MARION, Ill. — It was a job that Ryan Goodisky believed would be a dream job. And now, the eighth-year Athletics Director at Marion High School is making the most of his opportunity.
“When I was coaching football at Mt. Vernon High School, I remember we played at Marion,” Goodisky recalls. “I’m standing on the north sideline, the visitor’s sideline, and I just remember looking across that field and seeing that community, that support and that excitement. And I thought ‘Man, one day if I ever have the opportunity to work in Marion it would be something to definitely go after.’ I’ll never forget that, it was like a snapshot in my mind. It was pretty special and it really resonated with me.”
Goodisky, who was a three-sport athlete at Zeigler-Royalton High School, eventually became a teacher and coach, and worked as a football assistant to Dan Mings at Mt. Vernon.
Now firmly planted in Marion athletics, Goodisky talked about some of the truths, and myths, surrounding the job of Athletics Director at Marion High School, where he manages 23 varsity sports through the course of the school year.
What’s the busiest season?
Ryan Goodisky: I tell people all the time, the fall schedule seems to be spaced out and spread out pretty evenly where you’re not going every day and having a lot of late nights. Winter is the grind. Winter is the hardest season. Probably just as busy as the spring season. Winter is always late at night. But you ask about the busiest season. It’s spring. It’s every day. You’ve got a baseball game, a softball game every day. Mix in girls soccer, boys tennis, throw in a few track meets here and there we host. Spring is definitely the busiest.
What’s the biggest challenge you face as an AD?
Goodisky: Honestly, it truly varies season to season if that makes sense. I think the biggest challenge of the fall season, to me, is the events we host. Hosting a Friday night varsity football game is a huge deal, and it’s an even bigger deal in Marion because it’s not just the game we’ve got going on and the massive crowd, but it’s all of the extra stuff we try to incorporate. We host a massive volleyball tournament in October. I want those events to go well, I want them to be seamless. I want them to be professional. I want them to feel collegiate. The winter season is tough just because there are a lot of events and a lot of late nights. That is a personal challenge, even with our coaches. You’ve got to take care of yourself. If you don’t it will catch up to you. The challenge in the spring is the weather. Weather and officials. There is an official shortage nation-wide. I feel like we are very blessed in our area, we are starting to see a little bit of it in our winter sports. Spring is getting tough.
Let’s dispel a myth. They look at the schedule and think it was put together a few months ago or last year. How far out are you working on schedules?
Goodisky: Oh my goodness! Let’s put it this way, I’m talking to Mattoon right now about football in 2026, if that gives you any idea. Football, I generally work three to four years out. Most sports, other than football, I’m definitely every bit of 16 to 18 months ahead of schedule at all times. That was some of the best advice I got coming into this job. I remember Doug Creel at Mt. Vernon and he said you’d better stay ahead of the curve.
Talk about the moment or moments in your career at Marion that stand out to you.
Goodisky: There’s been some fantastic moments. One that I’ll never forget is the regional championship game in basketball in March of 2020. It happened to be Jackson Connor’s senior year. He broke Greg Starrick’s scoring record. Defeated a county rival in Herrin on our home floor and I had a lot of people that have been coming to Marion basketball games for a long time tell me that was the biggest crowd they had ever seen in Cuss Wilson Gym. I can remember looking in every corner and seeing standing room only, at least a hundred people in every corner. That was just an amazing night. For Jackson to break that record and for us to win on top of it was just the icing on the cake.
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