New leaders, new enthusiasm

Every head football coach has a thousand concerns running through his head as the Friday night lights switch on for the first time in August.

"Have we taught them what they need to know?"

"What will we do if Behemoth Central comes out and runs the spread offense instead of the power-I like we thought?"

"How could Johnny Senior forget his game socks back at the school? He's supposed to be a leader by now. C'mon, Johnny, you're better than that!"

Similar thoughts will undoubtedly flash through the brains of the two new coaches of Elgin's high schools before their respective season openers tonight. But the minds of Larkin coach Matt Gehrig and Elgin's Dave Bierman might also turn to thoughts unique to their respective situations.

For Bierman, who left Larkin in the off-season after three years to take over at his alma mater, leading the Maroons onto the field tonight at Plainfield Central will satisfy a lifetime goal.

A graduate of the Class of 1981, Bierman played football at Elgin High School. He cut his teeth as an assistant coach at Memorial Field before he landed his first head coaching job at Burlington Central in 1991.

He took the job at DeKalb in 1997, which turned out to be a trying five-year tenure short on success and long on frustration. That was followed by a brief stint as an assistant at Geneva on the staff of Rob Wicinski, his former Northern Illinois University teammate in the early 1980s.

Then came the Larkin job and three years of exciting, wide-open, if not by-the-book high school football, including one playoff appearance in 2006.

Had Elgin coach Tom Kim remained with the Maroons instead of taking a job this year as the athletic director at Grayslake Central, Bierman would have happily continued to lead the Royals. However, a shot at his dream job arose, and his Maroon blood surged.

Tonight, Dave Bierman's name will be entered in the record books alongside the likes of Mark Wilson, Emery Ebbert and mentor Dick Stephens, when he becomes the 24th coach of the historic Elgin football program, which dates back to 1897.

"I've been hoping for this for a long time," Bierman said. "I think even though we're on the road for the first one, I still think the kids will feel some of my excitement and what I'm feeling. It'll be an interesting experience.

"But the main concern isn't me, it's putting (a team) out there that's respectable and has pride in what they do. The most important thing to me is that when we come off the field we've hit like we should have and we did what we were supposed to do."

The coaching domino effect of Kim and Bierman moving on gave Gehrig his first break as a head coach.

Larkin's new leader was strongly influenced by its last for two reasons: Gehrig went to high school at Burlington Central and played varsity football for Bierman, a career that included a playoff berth in 1996. He was also a member of Bierman's coaching staff at Larkin.

Some of Bierman's attributes surely rubbed off on Gehrig through the years, but don't expect him to be a clone. He's had other mentors who have shaped his coaching style.

Gehrig played college football at Eastern Illinois and counts his former offensive line coach, Ben Norton, as an important influence. Norton is now the associate head coach/offensive line coach at Texas State University. He also counts 21-year EIU head coach Bob Spoo and 14-year offensive coordinator Roy Wittke as leaders from whom he'll borrow.

Gehrig took a cue from Norton this summer by making line play his specific area of concentration during two-a-days.

What thoughts will go through the mind of Gehrig, the son of a Larkin graduate, when he leads the Royals onto Memorial Field tonight for the season opener?

"I don't want to think about it that much or I might get nervous," he said with a grin before a Larkin scrimmage at Memorial last Thursday. "I know that the first game as a head coach I'll do my best to manage the game. I'll do a lot of preparation and pay attention to details to make sure that every phase of our team is ready to go out and compete to the best of our ability."

The emotions of both coaches might bubble to the surface come Oct. 24, when mentor faces student for the right to hoist the Town Jug.

"That will be surreal," Gehrig said. "When you're younger you don't know that you'll eventually become a football coach, let alone go head to head with your high school football coach. It's something you can never anticipate. It's funny how things work out sometimes. It's pretty cool."

Elgin's coach agrees.

"It will be a great experience," Bierman said of matching wits with his former player and assistant. "It's a neat thing about athletics that you get to coach against people you once worked under. That's the game you want to get. It's always a little more motivating."

Anticipation for that October meeting will simmer on the back burner for now because both coaches have more important things to worry about.

Like where Johnny left those socks.

jfitzpatrick@dailyherald.com