Nonstop intensity

After shadowing West Aurora football coach Buck Drach for a day for Week 3's away game against Naperville Central, I realized a few things: 1. Drach is one extremely busy man who tosses and turns at night thinking about the Blackhawks and everything involving his football team; 2. Drach teaches driver's education at West Aurora, and actually has a sense of humor when he's in the classroom and behind the wheel with young drivers; 3. Judging how I did in Drach's classes, I probably should not have my license. (Drach allowed me to sit in a driving simulator, where I scored the second-lowest score in the class; then he let me take a quiz for Chapter 1, and I didn't do so well on that either).

All driving jokes aside, Drach gave me the green light to follow him around for a day, just to see what it's like to be a high school football coach and teacher on game day.

It's 7:30 a.m. on the Friday morning the West Aurora football team is going to play Naperville Central, and Blackhawks coach Buck Drach has already been awake for five hours.

Why did you get up so early, coach?

"Naperville Central, that's why," Drach said about the DuPage Valley Conference opponent. "They have great numbers, great position, a lot of support. They've been good for a long time."

Over 14 hours later, the Redhawks beat the Blackhawks 27-13 in Naperville, but in 15 minutes, Drach has to continue to his other duty -- driver's ed teacher.

Since 2:30 a.m., Drach let his dog out, watched ESPN, was on his computer printing out media packets, put his to-do list together, got a multigrain bagel and half a cup of coffee at his favorite bagel place in downtown Aurora, read the paper and went through his first session of driving on the road with the students from the private schools in Aurora.

By 7:50 a.m., he is taking roll in room B-133 for a second session with 15-year-olds who are eager to learn how to drive.

Drach, who is in St. Charles East's Hall of Fame for his football coaching success, became a driver's ed teacher because it was part of the curriculum at Eastern Illinois, where he went to college. He first taught it at Limestone, then at St. Charles for a couple of summers.

He also helped with college students who were getting certified to teach driver's ed while he was at St. Charles East. This is his second season coaching and teaching at West Aurora.

"The thing I like about (teaching driver's ed) is that it's something the kids are going to take with them for the rest of their lives," Drach said. "They all want it. I don't know too many kids who don't want their driver's licenses, so there's a lot of motivation there to begin with."

On the Road

Drach has his moments where he is an intense and vocal coach, but as a teacher, he frequently injected humor into his teaching methods while nervous teenagers were behind the wheel.

As the kids drove around in a Saturn SUV in the area surrounding Aurora University for a little less than an hour, Drach gave instructions in a soft voice and called any squirrel who drove in front of the vehicle "suicidal."

Drach spends half of second period helping another teacher get one of the four leased Saturn SUVs gas at a Saturn dealership off Randall Road.

When Drach comes back, he's in an office that is warm and has a locker not too far away that smells of sweat socks. The office has at least six VCRs on a table. He transfers game tapes to DVDs for the players to take home in preparation for the following week's game.

Drach gets papers ready that need to be photocopied and sorts out equipment he needs to give to the teams' managers. He's starting to cross off all the things on the yellow-colored to-do list he keeps in his pocket.

Third period is simulation class, where the students sit in stations that look like driver's seats while following a car on a large screen in front of the classroom.

As class breaks, Drach, says, "Make sure you get out there as much as possible." He's referring to having the students practice driving on the road.

A needed break in the action

After a half a period of study hall near 11:30 a.m., Drach gets lunch -- pizza, salad, an apple and half a cookie. He takes his lunch back downstairs to his office. Not too long after that, he's back in the classroom for the reading and writing part of driving. Today, there's a quiz on Chapter 1.

Just one more time on the road with a pair of sophomores before Drach gets another break to prepare for the Redhawks. He uses his seventh period to switch from teacher to coach mode.

How is teaching driver's ed related to coaching?

"It's basics, it's fundamentals," Drach said. "It's repeat, repeat, repeat and get good at it. It's developing good habits, and football is, too. I found with football and driver's ed, I know what the kids are going to do before they do it.

"With that knowledge, you are there to tell them what they need to do to correct the mistake."

Drach spends the time before the Blackhawks leave for Naperville watching film and crossing off all the other things he had on his to-do list. The team leaves around 4:30 p.m. The bus ride there is the only time Drach gets his nap in.

"I can sleep anywhere, I can sleep standing up," he said.

Game time

Drach and the rest of the coaching staff watch Naperville Central's sophomore team beat the Blackhawks 43-20. Drach is changed from his khakis and brown shoes to tan shorts and gym shoes. As his team warms up, he observes with his arms crossed.

By game time, he has his headset on. He doesn't show too much reaction when either team scores, except for a fist pump when West Aurora quarterback John Nunnally scores on a 9-yard run and puts the score at 13-12, followed by a game-tying kick with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

Drach doesn't smile too much on the sidelines and doesn't raise his voice as much as his assistants do. He chews gum, and when he talks to players -- Nunnally the most -- he doesn't yell and usually gives them a light pat on the back or shoulder when they head back on the field.

"In football, my best moments are when I don't yell and when I talk silently because they have to listen," Drach said. "In driver's ed, you have to be calm, forward and you have to talk to them … they are already scared as it is."

West Aurora put in a decent effort, but in the end, the Redhawks were too much and won after scoring 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Drach is clearly not happy with his team -- and he lets them know it as they are huddled in front of him.

The tone of his voice is different. It's sharp and direct, and he gives quick answers to the media surrounding him.

After quite a long day, when asked how he's feeling, he said he was "wired."

"I'll go back home, put the tape of the game on, and won't be able to sleep," Drach said.

Drach did end up falling asleep at 1:30 a.m. -- he was awake practically 23 hours -- and said he "slept in" until 6 a.m. It won't be long until the craziness to prepare for Week 4's opponent -- Glenbard East -- will kick in. But at least he has driver's ed to calm him down.

Do you know of anything unique or interesting that happens before, during or after high school football games? Share your ideas with me at cbolin@dailyherald.com