The move to Lisle fit Dillard perfectly
Happy New Year.
In a few months it may get even happier for retiring Lisle athletic director Dan Dillard.
Or maybe not, because to watch Dillard in action it's clear he loves high school athletics and the people involved.
"Dan is an outstanding athletic director," said Lions football coach Paul Parpet Sr., who's worked with many. "And the reason is he cares about every athlete, every coach and every program, and he is visible. He is there, in person, at almost every event that he could possibly be at."
Soon Dillard won't be there, retiring after this, his 19th year at Lisle and 42nd in secondary education. The winner here is his wife, Cathy - married 43 years, high school sweethearts at small, since-closed Stronghurst Southern - and the six grandchildren of the couple's own kids, Justin, Jana and the youngest, Cory.
"It's good to say that maybe now we can spend more time together," said Dan, who turns 64 in May.
Seems like only yesterday Cory was playing football at Lisle. Now he's a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Lockport. When the Dillards moved to Lisle from Peoria County in 2000 Cory was still in the eighth grade.
"He told me it was the best thing we ever did," Dan said.
From his youth to college football days at Illinois Valley Community College, his first job at Newark in 1977 and stops at Union, Monmouth Warren and Farmington high schools, Dillard's been a small-town guy. It was in Lisle's favor that when he was looking to relocate, Lisle's principal was a super man out of Metropolis, Ron Logeman.
"Lisle was perfect," Dillard said. "It was a small school like I grew up in and always worked in."
Because he's modest, and because he didn't coach football after becoming Lisle's athletic director, some might not know that like Parpet, Dillard is a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Owning a record of 120-75 over 20 years as a head coach, his 1981 Union team went 12-1 and was the Class 2A runner-up. In 16 seasons at Farmington, Dillard's teams went 91-64 with nine playoff appearances and a 1987 Class 3A quarterfinal berth.
"For a couple years I suppose it was something I still thought about now and then, but this job has kept me plenty busy and has let me enjoy all the sports," said Dillard, who plans a return to coaching football, somewhere, this fall.
Over his career he also coached soccer, baseball, basketball, even Scholastic Bowl. His focus there, he said with trademark droll humor, was "getting them to the right location."
In Lisle the Dillards found theirs.
"We loved the decision and it worked out well for us professionally and as a family," Dan said.
Boys weekend
If headed downtown or anywhere near McCormick Place this weekend, be on the lookout for Naperville North boys soccer coach Jim Konrad and varsity assistant Steve Goletz, also the Huskies' girls head coach.
Starting Thursday they'll be among 13,000 or so attendees of the United Soccer Coaches Convention. On Friday night they'll be at the USC Awards Banquet where Konrad can pick up his award as USC 2018 large-school boys national coach of the year.
"It's a humbling deal, obviously," said Konrad, crediting Goletz, second assistant Nick Maksa, a Naperville North graduate, and the entire Huskies staff. Plus his brother, Jay, who "coached most of these boys when they were little kids."
All grown up, they humbled a lot of teams on the road to a third straight Class 3A championship, at 26-0 the first to complete a perfect - no ties - campaign. Naperville North owns a 45-game winning streak dating to 2017.
Goalkeeper Tommy Welch earned USC All-America honors, as did Jay Konrad's son, Ty, a junior forward already committed to Ohio State. Junior midfielder Zach Smith was an all-sectional pick, and both Welch (headed to Loyola for basketball) and Bowling Green-bound senior defender Colin Iverson are being considered for Gatorade player of the year honors, Jim Konrad said. Welch won Gatorade's Illinois honor last season.
"Obviously, they're an excellent group of soccer players, but their mental toughness is what makes them stand out among the best teams in Illinois history, their ability to handle pressure and to handle teams that just keep coming after them," the coach said.
"They're taking everyone's best shot. Every team coming after them is hoping to be the one to knock off Naperville North."
Mr. 300
It took Glenbard East wrestling coach Kevin Carlson 10 seasons to reach 100 career victories. The next 200 came in just the last 10 years; the Rams notched Carlson's 300th win at DeKalb's Don Flavin Invitational in late December.
"It wasn't a goal of mine, it's not something you think about," said Carlson, a 1981 Glenbard East graduate who won the Class AA 185-pound title as a senior.
Carlson credits his coaching staff and a "success breeds success" mentality, plus a training regimen geared toward strengthening as the season goes on.
According to the most current Daily Herald wrestling honor roll, junior 120-pounder Reese Martin is 30-2, senior Alex Posada is 20-2 at 145, senior Ben Pham is 31-3 at 195 and senior 220-pounder Jesus Lopez is 29-5.
"The boys are really put together and on top of their game," said Carlson, set to retire in 2021.
The Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association thinks Carlson is, too.
"Last year I was lucky enough to be inducted into the (IWCOA) hall of fame, I've got 300 (wins), and now I've got two more years to see what we can pull out of the hat. It's been a whirlwind, for sure.
"When you get into coaching these aren't the things you dream about or set goals about," he said. "I call it my 'longevity award.' After all the years accumulating, it's nice to have things go my way here."
Scrap
On Saturday at Oak Park, Montini's awesome wrestling team will compete at a new event called the Beat the Streets Brawl, which delivers five of the nation's top programs. Beat the Streets Chicago is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Chicago youth through wrestling.
Depending on which poll you check, Montini, Bergen Catholic (New Jersey), Lake Highland Prep (Florida), Poway (California) and Oak Park all are among the top 22-28 teams in the country. Israel Martinez's Montini squad is ranked No. 4 by FloWrestling, No. 5 by InterMat and No. 1 in Illinois by Go Earn It/Illinois Matmen. The Matmen have Oak Park at No. 2.
Each team will wrestle the four others in five rounds starting basically every two hours beginning at 11 a.m. There also will be a 7 p.m. exhibition between former Oak Park standouts Kamal Bey and Ellis Coleman. Closer to home, former Glenbard North superstar Tony Ramos, a three-time state champion now on Team USA, will present an 8:30-11 a.m. youth clinic.
This is a paid event, $10 for the matches only or $40 for Ramos' clinic plus the main event. Pay at the door or visit btschicago.org/bts-brawl/.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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