Kehoe to lead Jacobs baseball

Erik Kehoe didn't mind spending the last few baseball seasons as an assistant coach, but he never stopped yearning to be a high school head coach once again.

Kehoe gets his chance at Jacobs, where he was officially hired this week to take over the baseball program from Eric Sanders, whose contract was not renewed after last season.

Kehoe was the head coach at Streamwood for two seasons (2006-07) and led the Sabres to records of 8-25 and 11-23. Kehoe resigned during the 2007 season when his wife was transferred to Atlanta.

However, the couple returned to the Chicago area after a year and Kehoe hooked on as an assistant at Downers Grove South. Last season he volunteered as pitching coach at Lake Park alongside longtime friend Dan Colucci.

“I've enjoyed the last couple of years as an assistant, but once you've had a taste of running your own program you want to have all the responsibilities on your shoulders,” Kehoe said. “It's your program and your direction and you're the face of the program. It's something I wanted and I look forward to this spring.”

Kehoe spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Glenbard North. He played baseball for two seasons at the College of DuPage and transferred to Arizona State, however, a career-ending injury halted his career and he became a player/coach at ASU.