Larkin football coach Matt Gehrig named as head coach at Huntley High
Larkin football coach Matt Gehrig has been named the next head coach at Huntley High School, pending approval at the District 158 School Board meeting on March 18, Huntley athletic director Bruce Blumer announced Wednesday.
Gehrig replaces Steve Graves, who stepped down last fall to spend more time with his grandchildren. Graves (25-23) led the Red Raiders for five seasons, culminating in back-to-back playoff appearances in 2008 and 2009. The Huntley sophomore team finished the 2009 season with a record of 6-3; the freshmen went 8-1.
"Huntley is a great place and I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity I have to work there," Gehrig said. "It is a school that I believe has a lot of quality people and quality kids who are involved in athletics. There are just a lot of positives as far as community involvement.
"It's an up-and-coming school, particularly the football program. I get the privilege of picking up where coach Graves left off building the program and establishing it. I couldn't be more thrilled to come in and pick up where he left off."
Gehrig, 30, was selected from a field of approximately 70 applicants narrowed to five finalists by a committee that included Huntley principal David Johnson, Blumer, assistant athletic director Michelle Jakubowski, Huntley track and golf coach Jim Rolando, Huntley Youth Football president Jean-Paul Velazquez and 2002 graduate Brett Borchart, who quarterbacked the 2001 Huntley football team to the Class 4A state semifinals and went on to play college football at Saginaw State (Mich.) and Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
"I think what really impressed the committee was his enthusiasm, his passion and his knowledge of the game," Blumer said of Gehrig. "We were very impressed with that. We felt like the system he wants to implement will allow the kids to grab on to it and be out there reacting rather than thinking of what they're supposed to be doing.
"He's going to reach out to the youth program and be accessible, which is going to be big. I think it'll be great"
Gehrig is a 1997 graduate of Burlington Central High School, where he was a team captain and was twice named all-conference and all-area. On scholarship at Eastern Illinois University from 1997-2000, he was a three-year starter at guard and center and was named to the all-Ohio Valley Conference team in 2000.
Gehrig began his coaching career as a defensive line coach at the College of DuPage in 2003, and he spent 2004 as a defensive line coach and player for the Hanover Musketeers of the German Football League.
He arrived at Larkin as a building substitute teacher in 2005 and immediately became a varsity offensive/defensive line coach under former Larkin coach Dave Bierman, who was Gehrig's high school coach at Burlington Central. Gehrig coached the Larkin sophomore team in 2007 and was elevated to varsity head coach in 2008, when Bierman left to become the head coach at Elgin. Gehrig's Royals finished 4-5 in 2008 and 5-4 in 2009, missing the postseason by playoff points.
Gehrig was interviewed as a finalist at Huntley last week and returned for another interview on Monday. He was offered and accepted the job Tuesday afternoon in a meeting with Blumer.
A drivers education teacher at Larkin, Gehrig will teach either drivers education, health or both at Huntley, though his teaching duties have yet to be finalized, Blumer said. Due to proposed budget cuts in Elgin Area School District U-46 regarding drivers education, health and physical education classes, Gehrig was likely to lose his job as a teacher at Larkin at the end of the school year.
"As far as leaving Larkin goes, since I was hired here by (former Larkin athletic director) Jim Juliano and (former Larkin principal) Richard Webb and continuing on through our new administration this year with (principal) Jon Tuin, (assistant principal) Randy Ellison and (assistant principal) Darlea Livengood, myself and my football players have received nothing but strong support," Gehrig said. "The same can be said for most of the parents and the young men who have been a part of our program. In that way, there is absolutely some emotion tied to the loyalty myself and our coaching staff have received here."
Huntley fans can expect hard-nosed defense and a strong running game, hallmarks of Gehrig's teams at Larkin.
"We're going to put a lot on our defense, play physical football and focus on blocking and tackling," Huntley's new coach said. "We're going to work to establish the run. That will be our philosophy."