Warren's Werly, Kunkle gain hall recognition
A current Warren assistant coach and a former head coach will be inducted into their respective sport's hall of fame.
Longtime assistant boys basketball coach Bill Werly will join a distinguished list this spring as he is inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association hall of fame as a friend of basketball.
Meanwhile, on April 4, former Warren head football coach and athletic director Mike Kunkle will be inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association hall of fame.
An assistant coach for 26 years, Werly has spent 16 years at the varsity level and 10 at the freshman level. Six of those 10 years, he was an assistant baseball coach with freshmen and sophomores.
"I was very content to be an assistant and learn from them," said Werly, who vividly remembers when former Warren AD Kunkle spotted him in the hallway and asked him if he was interested in coaching.
Werly considers working with Warren boys basketball coach Chuck Ramsey a treasured experience with the two of them developing many athletes over the years, leading Warren through many successful seasons and competitions.
Together, they have a record of 311-117, eight conference championships, 11 regional championships, and five sectional championships. Their 1999 team finished second in the Class AA state tournament.
Ramsey nominated Werly, his only varsity assistant coach for as long as 16 years, for the recognition.
"The quality that makes Bill such a tremendous part of the basketball program is he is so good with the kids," Ramsey said.
In the nomination, Ramsey wrote, "Bill has been instrumental in our success, especially in working with the post players and using his psychology skills to develop proper attitudes. Bill is very popular with the players as a result of countless counseling sessions to help them as players and people. Bill has established a trusting relationship. One of the highlights of our program is the many kids who come back to the school after graduation to see Coach Werly and reminisce."
Kunkle served as Warren's head football coach from 1971-1984, posting a 105-27 record with eight conference championships. His teams reached the quarterfinals in the state playoffs in 1974 and 1984.
Kunkle was Warren's athletic director from 1972, when Warren had seven boys sports programs, through 1994, when the number had grown to 20 boys and girls sports programs.
"If I am deserving of such an honor, it is attributed to the fine young men in our program and the coaches," Kunkle said.
Kunkle, who has a bachelor's degree from Carroll College and a master's degree from Northern Illinois University, began his career at Warren as a social studies teacher and wrestling coach. During his tenure at Warren he served as the resource athletic director for football in the Northwest and North Suburban conferences. He retired in 1994.
Rocco Oddo, an assistant football coach at Warren, helped to organize the effort so Kunkle would be named to the hall of fame. He and Dave Mohapp, the current head football coach at Warren, worked briefly with Kunkle before he retired.
"He is an effective communicator," Oddo said, adding that he let football players know he was tough, but that he also cared.
Kunkle was inducted into the Warren Township High School educational foundation hall of fame in 2004 and the Lake County high schools sports hall of fame in 2006.