Schremp sets fine example

Prairie Ridge head coach Chris Schremp led the Wolves to the school’s first state football championship. (H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com)

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Chris Schremp recalled a conversation with his wife, Sheri, not long after he took Prairie Ridge’s head football coaching position 10 years ago.

At that point, the Wolves were nowhere near winning a state championship. Schremp expressed his desire to achieve more than wins and losses, to teach his players how to work hard, be good teammates and good citizens.

That sort of mission statement has served Schremp and Prairie Ridge quite well. The Wolves became one of the state’s best Class 6A teams, the players did what Schremp asked, and it culminated two days after Thanksgiving when Prairie Ridge defeated Peoria Richwoods, 35-14, for the IHSA Class 6A state title in Champaign.

It was Prairie Ridge’s first football state championship in the school’s 15-year history, and the Wolves’ third team state champion, along with Class A boys soccer (1999) and Class 4A baseball (2008).

Schremp received more emails than he could count after the Wolves won the championship, but two stood out: one from Nazareth coach Tim Racki and another from an official who called Prairie Ridge’s second-round playoff game at Glenbard South.

“Coach Racki said he told his kids to watch the way we played and how they conducted themselves and went about our business,” said Schremp, whose team beat Nazareth, 35-7, in the quarterfinals. “We didn’t trash talk, we didn’t say anything to the refs, it was just how we should have been. And he won four state championships at Driscoll.

“The referee went on and on about how our kids played and how respectful they were. Those were two guys who didn’t have to do that at all – that says it all.”

Prairie Ridge’s dream season also earned Schremp the honor of Northwest Herald Football Coach of the Year in a season full of worthy candidates. The winner is selected by the sports staff with input from area coaches.

Richmond-Burton coach Pat Elder’s team lost the Class 4A title game to Rochester, 42-39, and finished 12-2, the most wins in school history. Crystal Lake South’s Chuck Ahsmann took his team to the Class 7A quarterfinals and a 10-2 record after the Gators graduated four players who are now on NCAA Division I rosters. Marian Central went 11-1 under coach Ed Brucker, who revamped his offense for quarterback Chris Streveler, who was masterful running and passing.

Woodstock North’s Jeff Schroeder took the Thunder to a 7-3 record, a Class 5A playoff appearance and a third of the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division title in the program’s third season.

Schremp trumped them with the state championship. The Wolves’ goal after back-to-back semifinal losses was to win it all this season.

“It’s great, but it’s so much about my staff,” Schremp said. “Football is such a big undertaking and you need so many people to help you out. [Offensive coordinator] Joe Terhaar and [defensive coordinator] Andy Petersen, without those guys we’d be nowhere near where we’re at. We have a lot of great assistants.”

Schremp is the only coach who was at Prairie Ridge when the program started in the fall of 1997. He was freshman coach for a year, sophomore coach for a year, then offensive line coach for three seasons before taking over for Dave Whitson.

Schremp’s teams are 79-33 in his 10 seasons.

“He got better every year,” said linebacker Brad Simms, who started for three years. “He was more and more enjoyable. He kept us focused on whoever we were playing and kept us trying to get better week by week. He used to be more all business, and now we’ve seen the other side, too.”

Fullback Connor Greenwald, another three-year starter, appreciated Schremp’s demeanor in practices.

“He’s not the kind of guy who will scream at you,” Greenwald said. “He would tell you what you were doing wrong. Kids don’t want to listen to guys who scream. He was so good at helping us out with what we were doing wrong and fine-tuning our mistakes.”