Retirement treating Randall well, but he still wants to coach

Dave Randall may not exactly be the retiring type.

Randall, who recorded 895 victories - second most all-time among NJCAA Division III schools - during an illustrious 36-year career as head baseball coach at Waubonsee Community College, stepped aside in 2014.

Last December, Randall also retired as Waubonsee's athletic manager, a post he held for 32 years (1984-2015).

Randall has had a little extra time on his hands during the past month of retirement.

"It's different," he said. "I've done a lot of things I haven't been able to get to in the past but I still have a lot to do."

Some of those "things" may have to be put on hold for a while, however.

"I'm interested in doing some coaching," said Randall, who a longtime Aurora resident who now lives in Yorkville. "I'm looking to help a local high school. I have a meeting coming up for an assistant softball coaches' position at Rosary."

Why would a longtime college baseball coach want to work with a high school softball program?

"A lot of people don't know that I coached fastpitch softball for eight or nine years," said Randall, who played organized fastpitch softball himself back in the 1970s. "Fastpitch men's softball was huge in Aurora. Some of the best teams played in a 4,000-5,000-seat stadium. It was a big hangout for people around the area.

"Also, two of my daughters played high school softball at Waubonsie Valley."

Based on past performances, Randall shouldn't have any problems with his return to coaching.

At Waubonsee, Randall guided the Chiefs to back-to-back NJCAA Division III World Series appearances in 2013 and 2014.

After the Chiefs placed third in the 2013 World Series, they finished fourth in the 2014 World Series held in Tyler, Texas during Randall's final season at the helm.

"I couldn't have written a better script," Randall said of the 2014 campaign. "The team captured conference and regional championships and set a school record for most wins."

Waubonsee also reached the NJCAA Division III World Series in 2010, placing seventh.

"Three of my last five teams advanced to the World Series," said Randall. "It was the peak of my coaching success."

The Chiefs' program flourished under Randall's direction. Waubonsee reached a national ranking in 15 of his final 21 seasons, earning conference titles in 3 of the last 6 years (2010, 2011, 2014).

Randall, who played at Waubonsee in 1972 and 1973, spent a year as an assistant coach at Waubonsee in 1978 before taking over as the Chiefs' head coach in 1979.

"You should have seen some of the fields we played at back in the '70s," said Randall. "I remember going over the ground rules one time before a game where a ball is in play if it hits the trees in the outfield.

"Many fields didn't have outfield fencing or fences in front of the dugouts. We never really thought about it that much though. We just wanted to play baseball."

Things quickly changed when several junior colleges began to offer scholarships.

"Schools started offering scholarships and shortly thereafter Kishwaukee won a national title," recalled Randall. "There were no easy wins.

"It was tough to compete as the only non-scholarship program in our conference (Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference)."

As Waubonsee's athletic manager, Randall oversaw the school's 13 sports programs.

One of the crowned jewels of Randall's career was the construction of the school's $19 million field house attached to the east side of Erickson Hall on the north side of the Sugar Grove campus.

The grand opening of the 59,000-square foot building, which includes three indoor courts, a dance and fitness studio and an athletic team training room, was held in February of 2015.

"It is an outstanding facility," said Randall. "It's like a miniature Division I field house."

Randall received numerous honors during his distinguished career, including Hall of Fame inductions from the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference, Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association and the NJCAA Region IV.

However, the accolades are not what he remembers most.

"I loved all my teams," said Randall. "Coaching was my number one passion. Some of my best friends are former players."

Randall runs across familiar faces from time to time around town.

"I was at a Yorkville basketball game recently and ran into a couple of my former players like J.R. Valez (2001)," he said. "It's great to see the people you had relationships with."

The fact that Randall spent his 2015 away from coaching also worked out well.

"I had heart surgery last year so taking a year off might have been a blessing in disguise," he said.

Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com.