SLIPPERY ROCK — Mike Kish has fond memories of his days employed by the Slippery Rock Area School District.

That's no surprise considering how involved he was across four decades.

From coaching track and field and football to serving as athletic director and strength and conditioning coach, he was involved in Rocket athletics in every one of his 37 years (1973-2010) as a physical education and health teacher at the high school.

“He wore about as many hats for this district as possible,” said current Slippery Rock athletic director Dan Follett. “As the athletic director here (beginning in the early 1980s), he had his hand in so many things. The building of our softball field, dugouts and a fence at the baseball field, lights at the football stadium ... It was a lot of behind-the-scene stuff.”

“I was always involved in sports in some capacity,” said Kish. “I did the best I could.”

Kish was inducted into the Slippery Rock High School Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday night along with the entire 1984 Rocket football team.

He played football and ran track and was a member of the first graduating class from Highlands High School in 1969. He went on to star as a running back at Slippery Rock State College, becoming the first player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and still holds the program's record for rushing touchdowns in a game with five.

Kish was inducted into SRU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

He arrived at Slippery Rock High School in 1973 and took over the boys track and field team the following spring.

“My first three years, we didn't win a meet,” said Kish. “Then in my fourth year, we won three or four and were successful after that. We won league titles and almost always had somebody competing at the state level.”

As strength and conditioning coach, Kish worked with athletes from a variety of sports.

“We set up a weight room in between the boys and girls locker rooms, looked for any clubs in the area that were shutting down and bought things at as low a price as we could. That was a long time ago,” Kish said, laughing.

“We ended up taking over the rifle range after that team disbanded. Later on, everything was renovated and the school now has a beautiful weight room.”

Kish was a junior high and junior varsity football coach. He was athletic director during the 1984 football team's historic season. That year, the Rockets reached the postseason for the first time ever after claiming a conference championship in the WPIAL's Tri-County North.

“Players from that team had a lot of great relationships with each other ... they still do,” said Kish. “And they were very smart young men.

“Joe Walton was the head coach of that team and did a marvelous job. I'm glad I had a good relationship with him.”

As athletic director, Kish spearheaded Slippery Rock's move, in all sports, from the WPIAL to District 10 in 1988.

“In the WPIAL, our soccer teams would play certain schools, but the football team was going up against completely different opponents,” Kish said. “It was like that for a lot of our teams. By moving to District 10, we were able to stay with a lot of the same opponents.

“I took a lot of heat for that, but I think it worked out pretty well.”

Kish became the varsity football head coach in 1994. His 1996 team reached the District 10 playoffs, the Rockets' second playoff appearance on the gridiron since the team was started in 1966.

There was a span of four years in the 1990s when he was athletic director, while also coaching track and football.

Though he considered himself a “diehard football guy,” Kish most enjoyed coaching track and field.

“It's an individual sport, yet has a team concept to it,” he said. “You get out of it what you put in.”

Through all his years of coaching, Kish stressed one thing above all others to his athletes.

“Don't do it because you want to be an all-star or go pro, do it for the love of the sport and do the best you can,” he said.

Kish and his wife, Charlene, recently moved from Ohio to South Carolina. He said they often return to this area to visit family and friends.

“I formed a ton of relationships that remain solid and will continue to be. As coaches, we were able to spend a lot of time together,” he said.

“The athletes at Slippery Rock, they were great kids and they always worked hard.”

Twenty members of the 1984 football team, including Walton, were present Saturday night.

The Rockets went an undefeated 10-0 in the regular season, defeated Riverview in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals before losing to Rochester, 17-7, in the semifinals.

“Our first game that season was against Western Beaver, the defending WPIAL champion, and we won handily (34-0),” Walton said. “That's when I knew we had a chance to do something special.”