New faces in familiar places
Four Fox Valley Conference teams have new head coaches headin’ into the fall football season, and The Rant is chompin’ at the bit to see these guys in action.
CL Community, CL South, Huntley and Jacobs will have to adjust to new coaches. The Rant knows one thing for sure: If the kids don’t buy in to what the coach is tryin’ to do, then it’s already half over.
The Rant knows that these guys are evaluatin’ their talent and tryin’ to come up with the best system and strategy to put them in a position to win. The Rant wishes them luck in the upcomin’ season.
All eyes will be on the Gators and coach Chuck Ahsmann as South tries to move forward after a lot of distractions this offseason with the resignation of coach Jim Stuglis. Ahsmann knows his players well after bein’ at South 22 years and bein’ Stuglis’ defensive coordinator for the past 10, so they won’t see big changes.
The Rant likes havin’ a defensive-minded guy in the top spot. The biggest changes for the Gators will come on offense, where Bill Altman will call the plays.
The Rant thinks the expectations are highest for Jacobs new coach Bill Mitz, who coached for 28 seasons at Stevenson before resignin’ after last season. Lucky for Jacobs, Mitz did not want to stop coachin’ and joined the staff in February.
The Rant thinks Mitz could change the attitude of Golden Eagles football if he can get the kids on board, which seems to have been a problem at times in the past.
Mitz’s teams were 197-98 durin’ his stint as coach and made the playoffs each of the past 21 years. The Patriots were 10-1 last season, losin’ to Chicago Mount Carmel, 23-16, in the second round of the IHSA Class 8A playoffs.
The Tigers named Matt Fralick their varsity coach, and The Rant thinks that his familiarity with the players will be a big plus. The Rant’s spies tell him the players seem to like the move.
Fralick worked nine years at the school as an assistant, the last five as head sophomore coach. He replaces Jon McLaughlin, who was 29-29 in six seasons as head coach with three playoff appearances in the past four seasons.
Fralick will be tested right away because the Tigers open with The Grove, The Ridge and Peoria Richwoods.
Finally, Huntley hired Matt Gehrig as its football coach. Gehrig was the head coach at Larkin for the past two seasons and replaces 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.
Gehrig said he will call the offensive plays, and his assistant head coach, whoever that person is, will call the defense. He plans on runnin’ an I-formation, pro-style offense and establishin’ a running game. On defense, he will go to a multiple 3-4 front, which sometimes will look like a 5-2, dependin’ on what the offense is runnin’.
The Rant don’t know much about Gehrig, but he is sayin’ all the right things and soon we will see if it translates on the field.
Which coach will have the best run with his new team this season?
