Schmit: Are football coaching ‘dinosaurs’ becoming extinct?

It takes dedication to enjoy the rare air of a coaching dinosaur.

My colleague Mike McGraw recently wrote about local assistant football coaches who have been roaming high school stadium sidelines for five decades. For various reasons — love of the game, love of the kids — they show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and good for them.

Five decades is a remarkable achievement, but it’s important to note that none of them are head coaches. Because there’s no way anyone could last 50 years as a head football coach in today’s high school landscape.

Most of the veterans mentioned in that story have head coaching experience in their past, but they gave it up long ago. Losing the stress and responsibility no doubt extended their coaching careers.

Decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon to see head football coaches take over a program and lead it until their retirement about 30 years later. But because of the increasing time commitment through the years, that type of longevity is rare now.

Coaching stipends may look hefty, but not when you break it down to an hourly wage. For the vast majority of head football coaches, it’s not about the money.

We do have a handful of “dinosaurs” still prowling the area, but what does the future look like after they retire? Do we continue to see the current trend of head coaches sticking around for five to 10 years before stepping down?

Look at the leaders of some of our most successful programs. Batavia’s Dennis Piron, Cary-Grove’s Brad Seaburg, Glenbard West’s Chad Hetlet and Maine South’s Dave Inserra have been head coaches at their respective schools for an average of nearly 20 years. They’ve each won at least two state titles, with Inserra winning four.

And that doesn’t include the years they spent as assistant coaches. Hetlet was the head coach at Johnsburg for a year and at McHenry for two seasons before coming to the Hilltoppers.

Who fills those shoes when they decide to hang it up? Does the next generation boast that kind of stamina?

It’s a fact that coaching consistency equals success at the high school level. Montini’s had three coaches since starting its program in 1968: Jim Kavanaugh, Chris Andriano and Mike Bukovsky. The latter two — who coached together for years — hold a combined eight state titles.

Similarly, Naperville North’s had two coaches since 1983 in Larry McKeon and Sean Drendel, McKeon’s former player and his longtime defensive coordinator. They’ve combined for 34 playoff appearances.

Barrington is another program with only three coaches since 1982. The Broncos have qualified 26 times during that span, including 19 by Joe Sanchez since he took the helm in 2002.

From Antioch to St. Charles North and so many points in between, we see similar examples of success through stable coaching situations. Wheaton North, Neuqua Valley, Fremd … the list goes on and on.

But what happens next? Will the coaching churn continue every handful of years?

A long time ago, head football coaching at the high school level became a full-time job. The summer is shorter and filled with camps and 7-on-7s. The winter and spring brim with recruiting responsibilities, and now feature college combines.

You’ll find few people walking around with more energy than a football coach, but everyone has a limit. At a certain point, it just becomes too much.

Once this generation of venerable coaches steps aside, the dinosaurs may become extinct.