The image of a seemingly emotionless man who explained that his office door was not open to students is vividly seared into my memory.

Despite his seemingly frosty demeanor that day, the students around me were busting at the seams with laughter as he introduced himself at that chapel in 2002.

In this feature, the Eagle spotlight shines on athletic director, Scott Callisch. I had a chance to catch-up with coach Callisch as he headed off to repair two damaged soda machines by the gym.

Q: How did you get started working at Fresno Christian?
A: The vice-principal at the school I was at originally in Concord, CA knew of an opening down here and encouraged me to call and apply. And the rest is history.

Q: What year was that?
A: 1984

Q: Which college did you go to?
A: San Jose State University

Q: How did you meet your wife?
A: Mrs. [Eunie] McEntee [former campus P.E. teacher] arranged it. She had been trying to fix me up. She kept setting me up with short women. I finally told her that if she wasn’t over six feet tall, I didn’t want to meet her.

Callisch paused as he attempted to catch flying drinks from the vandalized soda machine.

A: Mrs. Mac was at a ceramics class, and a tall woman stood up. She asked her, ?Are you a Christian and do you have a boyfriend?’ She said she was a Christian and didn’t have a boyfriend. Mrs. Mac said she had just the man for her. Later, Eunie told me to meet her at a restaurant and there she surprised me with the woman who became my wife.

Q: When did you know she was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?
A: We dated about three years, and then she told me that it was time to get married.

Q: How many kids do you have?
A: Two. Mitchell, who goes here is in 8th grade and the other is in 4th grade. He’s 10, and he goes to Mountain View where my wife teaches.

Q: Which sports have you coached? Which is your favorite?
A: I came here to coach [boys’] basketball. I coached for 15 years. My first year here they needed a girls’ JV volleyball coach, so I did that for one year. But basketball is my favorite thing to coach.

Q: Why do you teach P.E.?
A: That was my major in college; it’s what I set out to do, as crazy as that sounds.

Q: What is your definition of an athletic director?
A: He is the administrator of the athletic program. He handles getting the facilities, the hiring of coaches, the budget, the ordering of equipment? everything but the on-the-field coaching.

Q: Did you know there’s a street named Callisch in Fresno?
A: I did know. My grandma said there was a street named after my great-uncle. He bought some land, or donated some land? something like that and they named a street after him.

[Callisch Street runs North-South between First and Fresno streets.]

Q: Who is your hero? Why?
A: Probably Mr. [Lonnie] Godfrey [former campus math teacher]. He put his will aside and lived completely by faith. He lives as a man of God.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant?
A: Moe’s. I order the ribs. My philosophy is, when I go to a restaurant, I order the specialty. When I find something I like, I order that every time.

Q: I hear you’re an avid jazz listener. Why jazz?
A: That’s my music choice. It doesn’t assault you. You have to go out and get it. You have to be patient. It’s not just a beat, it’s not simple; it’s complex.

Q: Pepsi or Coke?
A: Coke. I never used to drink Coke, but my next-door neighbor got me hooked. I limit myself to one-a-day.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do on a Saturday?
A: Go to the beach. I surf, kayak and I have a hand board I body surf with. I like to scuba dive and I did scuba diving with my kids when we went to Hawaii. I spend most of my time on the water.

Q: If you could travel to any time period, which would you go to and why?
A: I would go to tomorrow because that means I’d live one more day. I would go to the future to see how my stocks are doing.

Q: Which dinosaur would you pick as a pet and why?
A: A poodle-saraus-rex? I definitely wouldn’t pick on that would spit at me. I would want a non-spitting one!

Q: What was one thing you wanted when you were eight-years-old?
A: I had no toys. They were all wooden. I don’t know. I probably wanted a bike.

For more information on Coach Callisch, visit www.thefeather.com.