It’s possible none of the sports facilities at Center Grove High School ever take on the name of the man who has been athletic director the past 25 years.
Jon Zwitt, whose legacy more than speaks for itself, is fine with that.
On June 24, the 66-year-old Zwitt completes his final school year as Center Grove’s AD, punctuating a run of unprecedented success within the athletic department while competing as a member of the state’s premier conference, the Metropolitan Interscholastic.
Zwitt’s first day on the job, July 1 of 1996, seems so long ago and, at the same time, like yesterday. At the time, Center Grove was part of the South Central Conference, its home since 1991. Now it was to rub elbow pads with the likes of Carmel, Ben Davis, Warren Central and others.
“Denney French was the superintendent, and he gave me two assignments when he hired me,” Zwitt said. “No. 1, get us into the MIC. That was huge for us because it raised the bar dramatically. It forced coaches, forced student-athletes and forced the community to think of bigger and better things.
“I’m also proud of how our community, students and coaches reacted to it. They could have very well been opposed to it, but they embraced it, and I think that helped that progress.”
Zwitt said joining the MIC motivated Center Grove school board members to take a closer look at the need to upgrade certain aspects of the athletic facilities, most notably baseball, softball, soccer and football.
In 2003, Trojans football became the first high school in Indiana to eschew a grass field in favor of an artificial playing surface. It’s a switch that has almost become the norm throughout the state rather than the exception.
The second task French assigned his new athletic director was to make it so the department thrived financially. Center Grove athletics were in the red at the beginning of the 1996-97 school year, but Zwitt had it turned around by May and his department hasn’t been close to the negative side since.
“Jon is terribly efficient financially. He had a plan and took pride in doing as well as we have in the MIC,” said Ivan Smith, the Trojans’ boys tennis coach since 1977 and one of two current Center Grove coaches not hired by Zwitt (swim coach Jim Todd is the other).
“Every time I talk to Jon, he makes you feel your sport is as important as the others. If there is an issue with maintenance, administration or the bus garage, he will call that person while I’m sitting there and put them on speaker phone.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Zwitt is the third of Harold and Ginny Zwitt’s five children.
His thirst for competition allowed him to compete in football, basketball, wrestling and track and field — with, he readily admits, varying levels of success — at Brother Rice High School before graduating in 1973. Zwitt attended Purdue University, where he mostly played defensive lineman for the Boilermaker football team during the four seasons Alex Agase was head coach.
Zwitt taught at Purdue two years and then worked at Brebeuf, where he stayed from 1981-96. He worked as a teacher, counselor and eventually athletic director before being hired to succeed the retiring John Clements at Center Grove.
It was at Purdue where Zwitt met his wife, Kristen. Parents to Lindsay, 40, and Jonny, 38, and grandparents to four, Jon and Kristen celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary in August.
“You can say what you want about Jon, but he couldn’t have done this without a supportive wife and kids,” said Scott Knapp, who has been Center Grove’s assistant athletic director for eight years and will succeed Zwitt starting July 1.
“This job is a grind, especially at a place like this where the expectations are high, and a lot of credit needs to go to Kristen, Lindsay and Jonny for understanding and being supportive of his schedule and being a part of it. I think they need to be recognized, too, because of what they’ve given up for his profession and for him to be able to do what he loves to do.”
Prior to Zwitt’s arrival, Center Grove won three team state championships. Trojan squads have captured 14 during his tenure, with the before-and-after discrepancies in sectional titles (117 and 279) and regional championships (38 and 142) numerical proof of his significant impact. Individual successes have skyrocketed as well, with 44 state champions and 426 athletes named all-state.
Decades removed from his days as an athlete, Zwitt nonetheless benefits from having been one.
“The biggest thing that I admire about Jon is probably his organization and the way he’s kind of built up the athletic programs here over the last 20-plus years,” Center Grove boys basketball coach Zach Hahn said. “He’s a realistic athletic director. He understands athletics because he played at a high level, and when you have talent and don’t have talent.
“He understands when you’re playing a top-five school or when you’re playing a team that you should beat. Jon doesn’t sugarcoat things. You don’t have to wonder what he’s thinking. He’s going to tell you. That honesty, his organization and his ability to build what he did here is very impressive.”
This doesn’t mean Zwitt and his coaches always share the same mindset pertaining to topics such as facilities, uniforms, practice schedules and the like. However, his ability to listen, reason and eventually come to the best conclusion possible has served the school’s 19 sports well far more frequently than not.
“When I was getting my master’s degree, my counselor at the time told me, ‘Let’s get into not only education, but let’s get a minor in guidance and counseling,'” said Zwitt, who admits he was initially skeptical, but views it as one of the best things he’s done because it taught him to listen and be empathetic.
“Coming here, that experience, you’ve got to be able to listen to people. You’ve got to feel their pain sometimes and sometimes you just have to give them a little push. It’s all wrapped up in one.”
Added Knapp: “Jon’s always done things at a very, very high level. He’s just a professional. A perfectionist. Just his ability to listen and to adapt and make quick decisions is something that I’ve learned working with him.”
Come mid-July, Jon and Kristen will move to their new home, currently under construction in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. The plan is to enjoy their retirement years there full-time, though the couple is open to the possibility of returning in warm-weather months.
Whatever the case, Zwitt’s legacy as the Center Grove AD is sure to endure.
“I’ll miss the camaraderie. I’ll miss watching the kids in the big games that we have,” Zwitt said. “And I’ll miss this community because we’ve done so much in this time.”
