Pekin lands Palatine native Kaider

Those who know George Kaider best had no question about the lengths he was willing to go to return to coaching high school football.

But Kaider's wife Rebekah had to ask about a potential job opportunity for the 1987 Daily Herald All-Area linebacker from Palatine.

"She wanted to know where it is," Kaider said of Pekin. "Her initial thought was, 'I never dreamed of living in central Illinois.'"

Then the Kaiders and their three sons visited the town of 33,000 on the east side of the Illinois River across from Peoria. They took in a boys basketball game in the sports-crazy community.

And the question became, "Why not live in Pekin?"

And Pekin believes it found the answer to lead its football program in Kaider, who is in his fourth year as an assistant principal at Woodstock High School.

Kaider's commitment after the glow of the Friday night lights faded made Pekin willing to go the extra miles for its replacement for Dale Patton. He retired as the most successful (120 wins) and longest-tenured (21 years) coach in the 105-year history of the program.

"One of the things that drew our attention to George is his commitment to the entire student and the entire program," said Pekin assistant principal Tim Ruwe, who served two stints on Patton's staff and was a head coach for eight years at nearby Tremont. "It wasn't just, 'What do we need to do to win on Friday night?'

"He was more centered on building character and leadership and doing things right and developing young men into positive role models for young people to emulate down the road."

The same experience Kaider and his brother Tommy, an all-area lineman in 1993, had as players at Palatine for Joe Petricca. George Kaider was a freshman when Petricca took over and a senior during a perfect regular season.

Tommy Kaider helped sustain what turned into a 12-year run of postseason trips. Ten years ago in March, he was paralyzed below the chest from a rare stroke in his spinal cord.

"He's one of the reasons I wanted to get back into coaching," George said. "Our mom worked two and three jobs and my dad was a hard-working guy.

"Football was a way for us to show we can make it."

After playing at Winona State University in Minnesota, Kaider was an assistant coach at Palatine and Lake Zurich before becoming the defensive coordinator for Mike Noll's perennial playoff qualifier at McHenry.

He got his first shot as a head coach at Richmond-Burton and went 5-4 in 2000. He loved the school but there were no teaching jobs open.

His sons Jake, Christian and Sam were also all under 6 years old and his brother was still in the early stages of dealing with his paralysis.

"They needed me and I needed to step back," Kaider said.

So he went back to McHenry. Eventually he went to Woodstock with a goal of running an entire high school and not just a football program.

But as he watched his sons in youth football the urge to return to the sideline grew. He went to high school games with Petricca and spent time with Prospect coach Brent Pearlman.

"He missed it right from the start," Petricca said. "Last year I went to see two of his little sons play in Elgin and he talked about how much he missed it."

Kaider didn't want to take too much time looking to return since his son Jake will enter high school in two years. Then Woodstock athletic director Glen Wilson, who had worked at Pekin, told Kaider about the opening there.

Kaider visited before he applied and liked the Midwestern feel with wooded bluffs along the Illinois River. There was no doubt about the passion for sports in a town best-known for winning basketball state titles in 1964 and 1967.

Patton took a program that had never been to the playoffs to 11 postseason trips. And the 9,000-seat, all-concrete stadium is one of the best facilities for high school football in the state.

"It seemed like a neat opportunity," Kaider said. "The more I looked into the job, I was excited how committed the administration was to having a great football program."

Playing for Petricca and working for Noll also looked impressive on Kaider's resume.

"He's got an exceptional football pedigree and brings a lot of football knowledge to the table," Ruwe said.

"I think George has really come up with a great football philosophy," Petricca said, "about building character and helping kids grow up and get through those tough times in high school. He's got some great ideas."

Which were the result of being around two great coaches.

"Working for Joe Petricca and Mike Noll (now at Glenbrook South) was an absolute blessing in my life," Kaider said. "They're my mentors. They taught me what it means to be an educator and a coach and a leader."

Petricca's only disappointment is that Kaider isn't coaching closer to the Chicago area. But Petricca plans to get to as many games as possible and may even spend a week this summer helping Kaider get things rolling.

And the goal is to get people throughout the state to know where Pekin is when it comes to football.

"I want to get this entire community behind the football program for the right reasons," Kaider said. "Not only because of football but what it can do for kids.

"A program about leadership, work ethic and preparing for life after high school. That's something most people can believe in and the football will take care of itself."