Prep Zone: Elders to join select club

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Pat Elder said the best assistant coaching hire he ever made, or ever will make, occurred in 1999 when he became Sherrard’s head football coach.

After a two-year stint at Winchester, Elder moved to Sherrard, near the Quad Cities, and brought a wily veteran coach onto his staff as defensive coordinator. That coach was John Elder, one of the most respected coaches in the state, an instrumental member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association and a man who was 167-99 in 29 seasons at head coach at Alexis.

John also is Pat’s father.

“It was great having him on staff,” said Pat, now in his sixth season as coach at Richmond-Burton. “I’ve learned to embrace who he is. It was the best decision I’ve ever made in my coaching career. I learned more in that six years than I’ll learn my whole life.”

On Friday, Pat Elder will enter a select club with his father when he takes the Rockets into the IHSA Class 4A state title game against defending state champion Rochester at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium. Coincidentally, Rochester coach Derek Leonard joined that father-son club last year in the state championship game. His father, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard, won state titles in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Pat Elder was 1 in 1974 when his father took the Cardinals to the first Class 2A state championship in state history. Decatur St. Teresa defeated the Cardinals, 15-6, for that title. Pat’s brother, John, was the noseguard on that team and another brother, Joe, was the manager. Later, Joe officiated in a state championship game.

“It was the first year of the tournament,” coach John Elder said. “Everything was brand new, [and] nobody knew anything about what was going on. It was very exciting for everybody in the whole area. Once we advanced, everybody [in the area] got on the bandwagon and it worked out well for us.”

Pat says John and Judy Elder have seen most of the games of his coaching career, although they miss some now to see grandchildren competing in sports. They were there Saturday at Stillman Valley when the Rockets punched their ticket to Champaign with a 40-28 victory. No doubt it stirred memories for the old coach, whose team knocked Stillman Valley out, 7-0, in the second round in 1974.

While Pat and John talk football often, the elder Elder has not offered any championship-game insight this week.

“I try to stay out of it,” John said. “I don’t want this to sound egotistical, but he got out of my shadow up there [at Richmond]. He runs his own ship all the time.”

The influence is there. The Wing-T offense and 5-2 defensive front look a lot like what Pat’s father ran at Alexis. He learned as much about managing people and situations from his father as he did about X’s and O’s.

“For someone who been in control for such a long time, it could be hard,” Pat said. “But when we were at Sherrard, he was always very respectful that I was the head coach. We had some very spirited discussions, but it was always good.”

• Joe Stevenson is a senior sports writer for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by email at joestevenson@shawmedia.com. You also can follow him on twitter@nwh_JoePrepZone.