Celebrating Coach Christensen's long career at LHS
• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.
Dale Christensen came to Libertyville High School in the fall of 1969 to teach physical education and driver education, beginning a 31-year career at our school. He began his career as an assistant coach in football and wrestling. At the end of his second year at LHS, Christensen was named head football coach for the fall 1971 season.
There wasn't much talent to work with in his first year as his team went 0-8. The 1972 team improved their record to 5-3. In his third year his 1973 team won the conference title with an 8-1 record. It was the last year before the IHSA began the playoffs, so the season finished after the last regular season game.
He went on to have a 22-year head coaching career at LHS, finishing with a 134-87 record. His teams won five North Suburban Conference titles, always with a strong defensive effort. His 1985 and 1993 teams finished the regular season undefeated, the 1993 team reaching the state semifinals.
But as anyone who played for Coach C will tell you, including myself, his personal coaching philosophy went far beyond the wins and losses. There were four key aspects to his program he made clear to his players:
1. Nobody uses foul language.
2. Play up to your full potential.
3. Never be guilty of a "cheap shot," or respond to one.
4. He began a preseason helmet decal ceremony focused around a mother's love.
The sources of Coach C's principles were John Wooden, Grant Teaff, Tom Osborne, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Dale began an FCA huddle at LHS in 1971 along with athletic director Bob Tunnicliff.
Dale was quite an athlete himself. He was a 1959 grad of Rantoul High School, a town 18 miles north of Champaign. He was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track. His teams won conference championships in each sport his senior year.
Dale was Honorable Mention All-State in football; a starting forward for a basketball team that went 32-1, their only loss coming in the first round of the state tournament; and the conference champion in the shot put and discus in track.
He was recruited by the University of Colorado, where he was a two-year starting lineman. His junior year their team finished 9-2, ranked seventh in the country, and played in the 1962 Orange Bowl against LSU. Before coming to LHS, Dale taught three years back at Rantoul.
Dale and his wife, Vickie, have been married 55 years. They raised five boys, who all played football for their father and received college football scholarships; Mark ('85) for Southwest Missouri; Matt ('91) for Michigan State; and Eric ('87), Kirk ('89), and Reed ('94) for Indiana State. Kirk, Matt and Reed were high school All-State players. Eric was named the 1986 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Academic All-American in college. Mark was a college All-American. Reed is now the receivers coach on the LHS varsity football staff.
Since retiring from LHS, Dale and Vickie have been very involved with their 21 grandchildren. More than half of their grandchildren have either attended, are attending, or will attend LHS. It is a very common occurrence to see the Christensen grandparents at an LHS Athletic event.