Kay steps down as Cary-Grove coach, AD

Cary-Grove athletic director and football coach Bruce Kay announced his retirement at the football program's annual awards banquet in Cary Tuesday evening.

“I've just had enough,” Kay told the Daily Herald. “When we talk to our kids about working out we tell them they have to know what they want and what price they're willing to pay. At this point I don't want to pay that price of year-round commitment. It's really that simple.

“If everything holds up, I should be able to retire from teaching and the athletic director's position at the end of the (school) year and I'll have the opportunity to do, really, whatever I want.”

The school's football coach since 1989, Kay led Cary-Grove to 168 wins and 68 losses in 22 seasons, a career winning percentage of .712. He directed the Trojans to 15 of their 17 playoff appearances and finishes his career with a playoff record of 26-12 (.684).

A devotee of the triple-option offense, Kay reached the IHSA coaching pinnacle in 2009, when the undefeated Trojans beat Providence Catholic to win the Class 6A state title, 34-17. It was the first state title since the football program's inception in 1962.

The program first reached the playoffs under Kay in 1992 and 1993, when the Trojans advanced to the second round each year. After a one-and-done in 1996, Kay guided the 1997 team to the Class 5A semifinals, where the Trojans lost a 14-13 overtime heartbreaker at Rock Island. The Trojans then reached the quarterfinals in 1998 and the second round in 1999 before four non-qualifying seasons ensued.

Cary-Grove football has enjoyed unprecedented success since 2004, a span during which Kay's teams have forged a combined record of 77-10 (.885), made a school-record seven straight playoff appearances, six quarterfinal appearances, reached the semifinals twice and appeared in two state title games (2004, 2009).

Since 2004, five Cary-Grove squads have won their first 11 games of the season. Six earned outright conference or division titles in the Fox Valley Conference. Kay led the Trojans to 41 straight FVC victories, a streak that began in Week 9 of the 2003 season and lasted until Week 8 of this season.

“It'll be tough to see him leave,” said Jacobs coach Bill Mitz, an Illinois hall of famer. “He brought a lot not only to Cary-Grove but to the Fox Valley Conference. He's a hardworking guy and he's no-nonsense. I witnessed it because I worked in his camps. He gets the most out of those kids that anybody could get out of them. There's no doubt about that.”

Kay's son, Sam, and Mitz's son, Brian, grew up together in Cary and played varsity football together at Cary-Grove in 2002 and 2003.

“I feel he's a little bit of an adopted brother because we've shared many, many things that go way back,” Bill Mitz said of Bruce Kay. “I never dreamed I'd end up coaching against him. It'll be sad to see him go. He's just a tremendous coach and a great person.”

Despite the loss of 19 of 22 position players from the 2009 championship team and an 0-2 start this season, Kay and his staff were able to guide the Trojans back to the quarterfinals before losing in overtime to eventual Class 6A champion Rockford Boylan, 20-14, on Nov. 13. Kay's final Cary-Grove team finished 8-4.

“It's tough because I would have loved to see him stay for my senior year,” said junior defensive lineman Sam Mago, whose older brothers John and Rob both played for Kay. “It would have been great, but he's got to move on. I don't think any year would be a good year for him the way we've been for the past seven years.

“We were all waiting at the end of the banquet to hear what he'd say. All the players were kind of silent when he said it, but you could tell it was a real shock to some of the parents who thought he'd always be there.”

Kay cited the hard work of his coaching staff when asked about his program's success.

“A lot of times people will look at you and say what you've done, but it's really what we have done,” he said. “I have worked with outstanding coaches.”

Prior to becoming the school's head football coach, Kay coached Cary-Grove's girls basketball program to great success for six seasons. In 1983-84, he took over a program that hadn't notched double-digit victories in two years and reversed its fortune. His teams finished a combined 124-46 (.729), won five regional titles, three sectional titles and qualified for the state finals in 1986-87.

Kay's success as girls basketball coach helped him attain the position of head football coach when the job opened in 1989. He had originally applied for the position when it opened in 1982, but he did not get it.

“I was considered too aggressive and too blunt,” Kay said. “I'm an intense person, and they felt that intensity was too much, justifiably so.

“Shortly thereafter I became the girls basketball coach and I really didn't change anything, but the girls responded and the parents supported us. That's the difference.

“I would never have become head coach in football here if wasn't for those girls. The way the girls responded and, in turn, turned that intensity into productivity in girls basketball changed people's views that maybe the discipline and the intensity (worked).”

Kay became the school's athletic director in 1991. In 20 years under his leadership, the Cary-Grove athletic program has garnered 40 regional titles in 10 sports, 14 sectional titles in eight sports and state trophies in baseball (fourth, 2009), football (second, 2004; first, 2009) and girls volleyball (first, 2009; second, 2010).

Kay plans to keep football in his life each fall but in a far different capacity.

“I plan to visit a number of colleges and different high school programs and research football,” he said. “That's my initial plan. If it gets around to the point where I don't feel like doing that, then I guess football wasn't that interesting to me. But my initial plan is to visit some options schools and develop a research project.

“I really don't have any other plans. I just want to take some time away from the daily decisions you make when you run a program but still be involved.”