Huntley football names new coach

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Displaying knowledge and passion that belies his age, Matt Gehrig was selected as Huntley’s new football coach.

Gehrig, 30, accepted the position Tuesday night and was announced Wednesday by athletic director Bruce Blumer as the Red Raiders’ new coach.

Gehrig worked the past two seasons as head coach at Larkin.

Gehrig succeeds Steve Graves, who resigned his position in January after five seasons as the Raiders’ coach.Graves’ teams were 25-23 and made the playoffs the past two years.

“Huntley has so much potential and so many quality people in the community,” Gehrig said. “Being in the general area, I’m a little familiar with Huntley and it seemed to be a great place. As soon as it’s possible for me, I’ll meet with the players and coaches implementing my strength and conditioning program.”

Blumer said about 70 applications were received for the position and Gehrig was picked from a field of five finalists.

“The committee was impressed with his knowledge, enthusiasm, passion and desire to build on the recent success of the program,” Blumer said.

“In addition, everyone we spoke with emphasized the type of person Matt is, a hard worker, ethical and with great character,” said Huntley athletic director Bruce Blumer.

Gehrig will teach at Huntley in a position yet to be determined. He informed Larkin officials and players he was leaving at school Wednesday. Gehrig’s hiring will become official at the District 158 school board meeting March 18. Gehrig then wants to meet with the Huntley coaches and players to plan for next season.

Gehrig and his wife, Kristin, have a son, Peter, who is 15 months old. Gehrig graduated in 1997 from Burlington Central, where he started on both lines for three years. He played at Eastern Illinois University as a guard and was an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection in 2000. He was a captain for the Panthers as a junior and senior.

Huntley moved to the Fox Valley Conference in the 2004-05 school year and struggled for a while, but Graves led the Raiders to three winning seasons in the past four years.

Gehrig said he will call the offensive plays and his assistant head coach, whoever that person is, will call the defense. He plans on running I-formation, pro-style offense and establishing a running game. On defense, he will utilize a multiple 3-4 front, which sometimes will look like a 5-2, depending on what the offense is running.

Blumer described Gehrig as “old school,” despite the fact that he is so young for a head coach.

“My philosophy has old-school values,” Gehrig said. “I think the foundation of a winning program is dedication, determination, teamwork and hard work. Everything I believe in is rooted in establishing a running game, playing great defense and having good special teams.”