Building a program is probably easier at the smaller unit school districts, like the ICE schools. Let's use Manteno, my alma mater, as an example. The Manteno School Board wouldn't start football until they knew it was viable, so the youth league was started in '97. School let them lay out a field at the middle school...had like 150 kids sign up the first year. Second year signups had like 175 kids...went into the school board with a discussion of a majority of the new coaches year 2 had McNamara connections, so either make a decision or we are going to have created Mac's dream feeder program. They had the first additions to the high school being planned - a classroom addition plus the "fieldhouse" - which suddenly grew from just a gym floor and bathroms to a floor+, a dedicated weight/fitness room, a smallish girls locker room and a locker room designed for football. They committed to freshmen in 2000, full varsity 2002. MHS was still mid-300's enrollment, but 100+ houses per year were being proposed to the Village at the time.
Enrollment increases creates teaching openings. The administration made a concerted effort to get young, new teachers who wanted to coach. First coach was a young man named Jake Zajc, who jumped in with both feet. Immediately started working with the youth program, giving them some direction. And some excellent assistants joined him - Mike Kohl, Bradley's future HC, for example. It allowed the youth league to run off the Mac people...
Zajc left for a big pay increase to the Lincoln Ways after 3 varsity years...Kohl went home to Bradley, and many of the other assistants left for big pay raises as well... Elliott Craig came in for 1 year, and I'm stunned he made it through the season. He was an outside hire and pissed everyone off...called the soccer team lawn fairies, which is not a bright idea in a district where the youth soccer program has over 1000 kids...
Now at a crossroads, the Panthers found a gem...RJ Haines had won the 2A State Title at Iroquois West in 2003. Manteno gave him the opportunity to step up...But how to keep him from using Manteno as a stepping stone? Hire him as Dean of Students & football coach, with the bigger salary. He's been there since. He brought with him the pass first read option spread that he ran at IWest...
Haines worked with the youth league to implement the key parts of his system at the appropriate levels...Superlights simple blocking, tackling, terminology...Lightweights a little read option. JV some more complex passing concepts...By the time the kids are in middle school he knows who his likely QB & WR are...He's not always right...he kept trying to make Gavin Zimbelman a safety instead of QB... And a stable group of youth league coaches has emerged...sure, there are some who moved up the ladder with their kids, but many with multiple kids chose a level and stuck to it...kids are out of youth league, they are still doing it, a couple since day 1 in '97.
It took until 2010 to make the playoffs, but barring disaster Friday this will be 9 playoffs in 10 years after missing last year when the QB broke his ankle week 2. The number of players isn't great, but he shares his field with a high quality soccer program that regularly goes to sectionals which cuts into his numbers. They do Wildcat night where the youth league players get introduced, and the Wildcat players all wear their jersies to school on Friday like the big boys and wear them to the games. The cheerleaders have a camp where the elementary kids in the camp get to do their cheer at halftime at another home game.
Music Boosters are also important. The choir/band instructor who started when I was in 7th grade, set up the show choirs, did a lot of heavy lifting to create a top notch music program at the junior high and high school just was not interested in a marching band. He took the basketball pep band and put it in the football bleachers. When he started moving towards retirement 6 years ago, they hired a fired up youngster who was told that he was going to evolve the pep band into a marching band. He implemented new music (which hadn't changed since I was a student). He got them to march out to play in the bleachers. Then he got them onto the field to do the school song in an M formation...Its year 4 or 5 now, and the Marching Panthers have come out of the cocoon, new real marching band uniforms this year, marching around the track to perform the visitor's school song pregame before going to midfield for our school song and national anthem, half-time show...Its taken these parents 18 years to get a full-blown marching band...they're committed to Friday night just as much as the football parents.
Many successful small town football programs will tell similar stories. Wilmington has a host of youth league coaches who played for Reents, he now has kids playing for him whose dads played for him. Why hasn't he left for greener pastures? He's vice-principal now...I think that's kid of a trend at ICE schools to find administrative positions for important coaches...Feeney, the Wilmo baseball coach who won the titles, was principal for a while and now asst superintendant...
