Two sides to the question of coaches who don't teach on site
Tom Dineen, Derril Kipp and Ken Grams have coaching resumes few can match.
The trio has accounted for more than 1,900 varsity victories in their current sports - Dineen and Kipp in girls basketball and Grams in softball. They've been involved in numerous celebrations for conference and postseason championships.
But there are some schools where their resumes would be missing something significant. All three are retired from full-time teaching.
That was not a deal-breaker for Stevenson, which ended Dineen's one-year hiatus from the sideline and named him as its new girls basketball coach Wednesday. It hasn't kept Kipp at Maine West and Grams at Elk Grove from continuing to lead their successful programs even though they're no longer working in those buildings on a full-time basis.
It does raise a question when it comes to varsity head coaches. How important is it for them to be in school all day every day to run their programs?
Some schools obviously believe it does matter to have a full-time teacher as a coach - particularly when it comes to some of the prominent athletic programs.
Buffalo Grove's girls basketball program certainly wasn't slipping as it brought home a third-place trophy in what turned out to be Dineen's final season.
Dineen wanted to stay but BG wanted to go in another direction. Now Dineen is headed a few miles north to local rival Stevenson.
Not that there's anything wrong with it from either side.
It's nice to see Dineen get the chance to keep using his passion and knowledge of the game. He'll also have plenty of time to devote to running his new program.
It's worked well for Kipp and Grams. Mike Nocella has the Hoffman Estates girls basketball program rolling after he retired as a teacher and coach at Prospect.
But it's also nice to see girls basketball coaches such as Pat Dudle at BG and Martha Kelly at Prospect get their chance to run a program.
There are times where it's also easier to have qualified coaches who are at school all day. A coach who is also a full-time teacher is around to address any sudden issues with players or scheduling.
One coach once told me the longer he was out of teaching made it tougher to know his players. About a decade ago, Prospect's Ross Giusti, Elk Grove's Greg Grana and Wheeling's Tim Lazzarotto detailed some of the difficulties of being head baseball coaches while they were still working at other schools.
Those are among the issues to be weighed when it comes to who a school decides it wants to run an athletic program.
Should a school district such as District 214 - where Elk Grove wanted Grams to stay as softball coach but BG wanted to make a change in girls basketball - have a uniform policy? Is it realistic considering the number of sports that need good coaches?
Stevenson obviously saw more positives than negatives in bringing Tom Dineen out of retirement.
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com