Perfect fit

  Now that the getting-to-know-you phase is over for Rick Swilley and Plymouth Christian Academy, they both wholeheartedly agree on at least one thing: They really like each other.
  Swilley was hired to take over the reins of the Eagles' athletic program Aug. 1, 2008. Over the past 13 months, he has drawn the highest praise possible from the school's athletes, coaches and administrators, who have grown to admire his get-stuff-done approach.
  The feeling is mutual for Swilley, who feels like he's joined one big happy family.
  "Rick has done an outstanding job since taking over the job," said Dr. David Butler, PCA's head of schools. "His No. 1 goal every day is to make things better for the kids, and that's all you can ask of an athletic director. He's not above doing some of the grunt work necessary.
  "Rick is the kind of man I would want leading my son."
GRADE-A LEADER
  Swilley's leadership credentials are impressive. Prior to coming over to PCA, the Belleville resident was the athletic director at Faith Christian Academy in Southfield for eight years.
  He was a three-sport athlete at Saginaw Buena Vista ("That's where basketball was invented, you know!" he joked, laughing). The University of Michigan was so impressed with the speedy 6-foot-3, 190-pound gridder that he was invited to U of M's campus to share a one-on-one meeting the Bo Schembechler.
  "One of the first things he asked me was whether my school had any film on me that they could check out," Swilley remembered. "I told him, 'I don't even know if my school films the games. Now high school football players have their own websites, so that shows you how things have changed from when I was in high school in the 80s."
  Swilley's path to big-time college football was detoured by an encounter with misfortune.
  "Unfortunately, in the second game of my senior season, I separated my right shoulder and broke my left arm -- both on the same play," said Swilley. "That kind of did in my college football career."
GRACE UNDER FIRE
  But the way Swilley dealt with the daunting adversity can be used as a life lesson by all of the athletes he oversees.
  One spring weekend several months after his devastating injury, Swilley was competing in the Midwest Track Meet of Champions when the University of Michigan's men's track-and-field team watched him excel in the 200-meter dash.
  "He came up to me and said, 'I'll give you money to come to our school and run,'" Swilley reflected. "I told him whatever he could give me to help finance my education would be appreciated."
  Along with earning his undergraduate degree, Swilley enjoyed a stellar career on the Wolverines' track-and-field team. He is currently working toward a Master's degree in Sports Management from Eastern Michigan University.
  "I love how the athletes at Plymouth Christian have a passion for athletics and a desire to be successful in a Christian way," Swilley said. "I knew a lot about Plymouth Christians high standards before I came here to work, so nothing has surprised me."
FOOTBALL IN THE FUTURE?
  The No. 1 thing on Swilley's long-term agenda is not surprising.
  "In the future, I definitely want to add football," he said. "Football enhances your overall program as people gravitate to it and take a lot of pride in it. But while the the addition of football would be great, the price of adding it is great, too, so we'll have to come up with a plan."
  Swilley said that in order for the Eagles' athletic program to reach its potential, student-athletes will need to spread their wings to more than one sport.
  "We want the basketball players to run cross country and the cross country runners to run track, right on down the line," he said. "That's how you build a sports program. I also want to build the sports program from within as opposed to going out and recruiting kids from other schools. You start a foundation with your elementary and middle school kids then build from there.
  "If your foundation is solid, your program will be successful."
  Swilley emphasized, though, that wins and losses take a backseat to athletes carrying themselves in a Christian way.
 

Ed Wright can be reached at info@plymouthcantonsports.com or (734) 453-1980.