Greg Polnasek completed his 20th season on the Albion College coaching staff. He served as the special teams coordinator and safeties coach in 2017. Sam Blanzy was one of the top punters in Division III in 2017, and he was rewarded as an all-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association first team pick.
He also serves as one of Albion's associate athletic directors.
Polnasek coached a pair of all-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association performers in 2011, as Brian Spencer gained a first team award and J.C. Cruse was placed on the second team. Defensive back Mike Vandermus was an all-MIAA pick in 2012.
Polnasek, who held positions as defensive coordinator, administrative assistant to the athletic director and head men's tennis coach at Albion from 1983-87, returned after head coaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1992-95) and Colorado College (1997-2002).
In his first stop at Albion, Polnasek helped the Britons claim the 1985 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship. The defense yielded 269.4 yards per game that season, a figure that ranked 22nd nationally, while yielding 11.2 points per game. The Britons advanced to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, bowing to Augustana, the eventual national champion, in the first round.
He left Albion to assume the positions of administrative assistant to the head football coach, recruiting coordinator, and linebackers coach at Illinois State University. In that position, he assisted head coach Jim Heacock, currently the defensive coordinator at The Ohio State University, with duties involving academic eligibility, rules and compliance, as well as supervising recruiting efforts in a seven-state region.
Polnasek was a defensive assistant for three seasons at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. He aided the Falcons to a Mid-American Conference championship and trip to the California Bowl in 1982 against Fresno State University under head coach Denny Stolz.
A cum laude graduate of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Polnasek received a B.A. degree in business administration in 1979. He earned a M.A. degree in sports administration from Ohio State in 1980 and a M.A. in sports science from Bowling Green in 1981.
A native of Union Grove, Wis., Polnasek graduated from Union High School in 1975, where he was the team's most valuable player as a senior. He played defensive back at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
His wife, Nancy, is a 1976 Ohio State graduate. The couple has two sons, Kevin, '06, and Brad, '09, and a daughter, Sarah, '11.
