Pole vault coach Kyle Ellis returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2009, and in that time, he started a grassroots program for his athletes.

He turned Eastern pole vaulting into a program that caught the attention of red-shirt pole vaulters Mick Viken and Jade Riebold, who transferred from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Georgia, respectively.

Ellis has been working for four years as an assistant coach and helped Viken and Riebold reach new heights with his system of training.

During this time, he has been considering leaving Eastern for a school that offers him a higher salary.

“I could go to Family Video and make more in a year,” Ellis said.

But Ellis said he made a promise to both athletes.

“I gave the two kids going to nationals a promise that I would stay here for two years,” Ellis said.

Though he has received offers from other schools, Ellis said he stayed true to his word and remained at Eastern, training his first batch of pupils, even when seasoned coaches told him not to stick with a job because of an athlete.

With the success he has seen with his athletes, Ellis said he felt compelled to stay and continue with the program he built.

Viken cleared the bar at 17-feet, 8.5-inches numerous times this season, and Riebold broke her personal record when she reached a height of 14-feet, 7.25-inches.

“When I got these offers from these other places, that’s just something that I kind of had to weigh out,” Ellis said.

Most of the vaulters currently on his squad only know Ellis as their coach at the collegiate level.

Ellis said pole vaulting is a sport that differs from all the others because there has to be strong relationship between both the athlete and the coach.

“As a pole vault coach, I feel it’s really different from other sports,” he said. “These kids put a lot of trust in me. I mean I have my own little system that I get my athletes to buy into.”

As much as Ellis loves his job as a coach at Eastern, he has considered jobs elsewhere because of his salary. Ellis said he is currently making $20,000 a year.

The debt left over from the student loans he took out forced him to join the National Guard, and Ellis will be starting basic training in the summer.

Ellis said he likes his job at Eastern, but his pay does not help him with his bills and all of the debt he has accumulated.

“I’ve got my college degree, and I’m working hard,” he said. “I love working with these kids.”

A couple of years ago, Ellis said, a position opened up at Northern Iowa and his coworkers told him to consider applying for the job.

However, Ellis said he did not consider leaving his post at that moment.

Ellis said leaving for a bigger school is lucrative because the pay is higher, but he disapproves of coaches who build successful athletic programs at small schools and then leave when athletic powerhouses offer them a better salary.

But he also tried to comprehend why coaches leave for these kinds of jobs since he faced the same dilemma.

“From an outsider’s perspective, you probably wouldn’t respect a decision like that,” Ellis said. “I’m kind of keeping my options open.”

Ellis said he has only stayed at Eastern because of his athletes.

Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-2821or jlopez2@eiu.edu.