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What is the best high school H-C job in the state?

redmen85

Well-Known Member
Dec 17, 2014
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I was reading in another thread speculation on a certain school's head coach's salary. It made me consider the question of "What is the best situation?"
Considerations include: availability of athletes, salary, facilities .....
 
I would go with Naperville Central big schools tons of athletes who participate, very nice facilities and great pay.
 
Neuqua Valley....they've improved in the last 5 years, but I think there is great potential still untapped. Huge amount of kids to draw from. Great community, facilities, pay etc.
 
I don't believe their pay is that of some of the other districts either-Barrington, HF, M-S.
 
How about what is the best currently open head coaching job in the state?
Here is edgy's list of openings:
Marian Central Catholic
Vienna-Goreville
Plainfield North
Oak Forest
Lawrenceville
Prairie Central
Machesney Park Harlem
Belleville East
Kankake
Plainfield East
Joliet Central
Mundelein
Mahomet Seymour
Julian
Riverton
East Moline United
Sullivan Okaw Valley
Stevenson
Decatur Eisenhower
Decatur Lutheran
Metea Valley
 
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Either of the major Naperville jobs

- great youth feeder program
- phenomenal resources
- high stipends
- college quality facitlities
- wealthy alum/parents ready to invest as needed

BUT no unrealistic expectations where titles or finals appearances are expected every job.
 
What’s the deal with Metea Valley? They seem to have the facilities with a huge population to draw from than should equate to more that 2 wins in 2 seasons. Are Nequa and Naperville central fox valleys equivalent of philips? Can anyone fill in the blanks here?
 
What’s the deal with Metea Valley? They seem to have the facilities with a huge population to draw from than should equate to more that 2 wins in 2 seasons. Are Nequa and Naperville central fox valleys equivalent of philips? Can anyone fill in the blanks here?

Metea's district is much more Aurora than Naperville, where the youth programs aren't close to as strong. Should they be better, yes. That said playing in that conference doesn't help.

They would do well in the new Upstate 8 and are also a geographic fit.
 
See the thread “transfer season is upon us!” Lol.

Metea should be much much more competitive but so should some of the Plainfield schools.

IMO here is what puts MV in a tough spot.

* Naperville Central has taken multiple players from Metea in the past 3 to 4 years in moves/transfers within the district. NC is a great school and D203 and D204 are both great academically but D203 is usually ranked a tad ahead.

* WV is only 4 miles away and for the families that rent - very easy to pop to a townhouse or apartment building right accross the “school border” and play on more competitive teams but still get the same great D204 education opportunity.

* easy access to MV via Eola/88 and lots of privates “close by” as alternate school choices.

* no history of success - school is only 8 years old. Not much history and very little history of football success going against the football power schools in the DuPage County area.

Personally I think they should pull a West Aurora and maybe move into a conference like the Upstate 8 for a half decade or so. They are never going to build a program getting the snot kicked out of them by Naperville Central and Neuqua every year. In the past D204 school board and Admin have been adamant that the 3 D204 schools reside in the same conference. That might not be the best for Metea when it comes to football. They seem to do “ok” in most other sports. If there is a coaching opening at Metea I hope they bring in a young guy with a lot of charisma to get the program energized and moving in the right direction. They have athletes in that building! They need more to come out for football and they need to hold onto the ones that head to other schools to be on a competitive team.
 
I could be wrong, but I believe if coach Monken was still there they’d be a normal member of the expected playoff teams.

See the thread “transfer season is upon us!” Lol.

Metea should be much much more competitive but so should some of the Plainfield schools.

IMO here is what puts MV in a tough spot.

* Naperville Central has taken multiple players from Metea in the past 3 to 4 years in moves/transfers within the district. NC is a great school and D203 and D204 are both great academically but D203 is usually ranked a tad ahead.

* WV is only 4 miles away and for the families that rent - very easy to pop to a townhouse or apartment building right accross the “school border” and play on more competitive teams but still get the same great D204 education opportunity.

* easy access to MV via Eola/88 and lots of privates “close by” as alternate school choices.

* no history of success - school is only 8 years old. Not much history and very little history of football success going against the football power schools in the DuPage County area.

Personally I think they should pull a West Aurora and maybe move into a conference like the Upstate 8 for a half decade or so. They are never going to build a program getting the snot kicked out of them by Naperville Central and Neuqua every year. In the past D204 school board and Admin have been adamant that the 3 D204 schools reside in the same conference. That might not be the best for Metea when it comes to football. They seem to do “ok” in most other sports. If there is a coaching opening at Metea I hope they bring in a young guy with a lot of charisma to get the program energized and moving in the right direction. They have athletes in that building! They need more to come out for football and they need to hold onto the ones that head to other schools to be on a competitive team.
 
I could be wrong, but I believe if coach Monken was still there they’d be a normal member of the expected playoff teams.

They'd be better but I'm not sure I can name a team in the shelll of the DVC who i believe they would beat.
 
Based on what I actually know about schools (pay, talent, district, and talent):
3 - Marian Central Catholic
4 - Plainfield North
5 - Oak Forest
9 - Kankake
6 - Plainfield East
8 - Joliet Central
7 - Mundelein
1 - Stevenson
2 - Metea Valley
 
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1. Loyola - located in an extremely afluent area with few private competitors in football and few public competitors. LA is has a perfect scenario for a football coach. Posters have said the the current coach does well enough that he'd stay should a Big 10 program come calling.

2. Mt. Carmel - located on the talent rich south side and tradition second to none. Also there is no shortage of star power in the ranks of the alumni. Instant credibility for whoever is the coach and the talent will be there. Plus I believe I heard the prior coach was making a pretty penny.

3. HF - facilities and support are second to none. The enrollment is generally talented in addition to issues with other local public schools makes HF a magnet for talent in the area.

4. NV - humongous enrollment and money to burn. Neuqua is a sleeping giant of the West Burbs
 
Top 5 best HS Football coaching schools in my opinion

1 - Maine South - Football speaks for itself, tradition of champions, great facilities
2 - Stevenson - affluent area, great pay, ridiculous talent pool
3 - LWE - 100 kids on your roster??
4 - HF - looks like a college team, college facilities, great demographic
5 - Naperville Central - Tradition, great facilities, good mix of players

Didn’t rate private schools bc those jobs all depend on coaches ability to recruit and pay at private achools is minimal compared to public
 
What’s the deal with Metea Valley? They seem to have the facilities with a huge population to draw from than should equate to more that 2 wins in 2 seasons. Are Nequa and Naperville central fox valleys equivalent of philips? Can anyone fill in the blanks here?
Pretty sure a chuck of kids in the school are Indian or Pakistani and will never play football, so the enrollment number is misleading. This isn't the same type of kids that are coming through NC or NN that have been in feeder programs. Metea isn't as great of a job as it would look from afar once you get up close. Had they kept Thorne and Reed around, they could have changed the culture and got things headed in a different direction. Ultimately up to a coach to totally change the outlook there.
 
The best HC job in the state is incredibly subjective, and the reason is that not all coaches might want a big school job, or a small school career...

That said, one of the best jobs must be Wilmington...Howard Becker was football and wrestling coach from 1965-93, hall of famer, and was replaced by Jeff Reents fresh out of college in 1994 who has made the playoffs what 23 straight years...Becker was there when the 1970ish high school (now the middle school) building opened, and Reents is there for the new school a decade ago...The job may not open for another 10-15 years...

Condolences to Howard Becker's family, as he passed away last week..
 
Bad HC jobs? Kankakee is one. Just fired Omar Grant (who Bradley hired this week as an assistant) for no apparent reason, an alum who looked like a lifer...The school board has fired coaches in several sports repeatedly for no apparent reason...Including the child of a school board member...

That said, it could be a great job for the right person...The field was replaced with turf in 2017...Some other work on the stadium in the last couple years...Terrific summer setup: they converted the back/small gym at Kennedy school into a weight room, with multiple practice fields available between Kennedy & Taft elementary...The high school is undergoing major renovation...It's a potential sleeping giant....or continued nightmare...
 
Without a lot of thought, my first answer would be HF. Great facilities, great athletes, tradition of success. Some real nice areas to live. Seem to have the backing of the admin.

Plus, they have an administration that puts the screws on visiting teams and fans.

Ask Stevenson.
 
1. Loyola - located in an extremely afluent area with few private competitors in football and few public competitors. LA is has a perfect scenario for a football coach. Posters have said the the current coach does well enough that he'd stay should a Big 10 program come calling.

2. Mt. Carmel - located on the talent rich south side and tradition second to none. Also there is no shortage of star power in the ranks of the alumni. Instant credibility for whoever is the coach and the talent will be there. Plus I believe I heard the prior coach was making a pretty penny.

3. HF - facilities and support are second to none. The enrollment is generally talented in addition to issues with other local public schools makes HF a magnet for talent in the area.

4. NV - humongous enrollment and money to burn. Neuqua is a sleeping giant of the West Burbs
Loyola/MC? Really?
Are you factoring the pay at all?
 
I've read here that Holocek is doing well enough that the millions at a Big 10 school couldn't lure him away. Also read here that Lenti was doing quite well.
Very interesting. Especially when compared to the $150K + that others are making.
 
1. Loyola - located in an extremely afluent area with few private competitors in football and few public competitors. LA is has a perfect scenario for a football coach. Posters have said the the current coach does well enough that he'd stay should a Big 10 program come calling.

2. Mt. Carmel - located on the talent rich south side and tradition second to none. Also there is no shortage of star power in the ranks of the alumni. Instant credibility for whoever is the coach and the talent will be there. Plus I believe I heard the prior coach was making a pretty penny.

3. HF - facilities and support are second to none. The enrollment is generally talented in addition to issues with other local public schools makes HF a magnet for talent in the area.

4. NV - humongous enrollment and money to burn. Neuqua is a sleeping giant of the West Burbs

Definitely MC. Make it to the semis and get axed. Gotta love the backing of the administration!
 
H-F with a question mark to how long the gravy train and administration will continue to support the program. The top level supervisors have a hard time playing well with others. Salary for the 5 primary football coaches is off the charts. We will see.
 
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