On The Record With ... Jeff Dresser

As he prepares to retire from 34 years of teaching and coaching – including 33 at Antioch Community High School – Jeff Dresser has certainly made the most of his decades educating students.

He has taught business, accounting, business law, keyboarding and physical education. He has coached basketball, track, cross country and golf – with his share of championship caliber teams.

Both in the classroom and on the athletic field, Dresser said he simply tried to be a good teacher.

"It didn't seem like work, it wasn't work," Dresser said of teaching. "I never really said, 'I'm going to work today.' I always said, 'I'm going to school.'"

Dresser went on the record with Lake County Journal reporter Colin Selbo during his final week at ACHS to discuss his coaching and teaching career.


Selbo: Could you see yourself spending the last 34 years doing anything but teaching and coaching?

Dresser: No. It's a very rewarding career in many different ways. The people that you meet and work with, and the people that you learn from. Especially if you're in coaching and you listen to some of the older coaches before they retire and get out. Get some of the input that they have ... And the students; students really tend to keep me young. I would like to play anyways, and what better way than being with kids. Students this age that like to play and like to do things – especially in P.E. – it's always fun being around them.

Selbo: Was teaching something where you would come in everyday, and it was a different experience everyday?

Dresser:  Yeah, yeah. It was a different experience everyday. And that's what I like about it. It changed all the time. Even if your curriculum stays the same, you may present it in a different way. If it didn't work that class – if you were lucky enough to have another class that day – you could change it there, you can change on the fly. I never kept it too much the same from year to year. A lot of things were the same, but I always tried to do something new, keep something fresh.

Selbo: Has your coaching style changed over the years?

Dresser: It's changed. My philosophy hasn't changed much, but your style of how you handle kids has changed over time ... Hopefully as I went along I was less screaming, whatever you want to call it, boisterous. I hopefully taught more than I probably did when I was younger. My philosophy basically stayed the same.

Selbo: What is that philosophy?

Dresser: My philosophy is we got certain constants in a game, and we do these well and that's what you concentrate on. Your defense is your biggest constant. If you play good defense every night, you'll be in the game. If you shoot good free throws, you'll be in the game. If you rebound well, and if you hustle and get the loose balls, you'll be in every game. Whether you're shooting well that night, it doesn't matter. If you're doing the other four you're going to be productive.

Selbo: When you think back on your time teaching and coaching, do specific moments or students stand out, or does it kind of blend together?

Dresser: They all kind of blend together a little bit. The ones you remember, most of the ones you remember, are your championship teams. And usually maybe not the championship teams so much, but certain individuals on the team that really stand out because of their quality of person that they were, and the character that they had.

Selbo: For students who are in athletics, is that something that pays dividends for them down the line?

Dresser: Oh, I think it does. Oh yeah, I think it really does. I think athletics teaches so much more that maybe the other kids don't get. It teaches you discipline. It teaches you some type of teamwork, that you're all working together for a common goal. It's a common goal, it's not just a personal goal, it's a common goal that everybody is working for. It teaches you that you come prepared everyday. You come on time, more than even a classroom. My first practice as varsity coach – I'll never forget this – I called a practice, we made cuts. I said, "We're going to practice on Saturday. I want everybody in this room at nine o'clock." One kid showed up at nine o'clock. So, I just sat there and just kept writing down, this kid came two minutes late, three minutes late, five minutes late. I said, "OK, we're going to have this meeting after we go out and do some conditioning."

Selbo: And did they get the message?

Dresser: Oh yeah, they got the message real quick that year.

Selbo: What is it that you're really going to miss about being at ACHS?

Dresser: The people. The students when they get excited about doing something and they do well on something. That is always nice. I'm going to miss watching somebody come in a freshman, and really didn't have it together. Or thought they had it together and they really didn't. [Then] you see them leave as seniors and and you go, "Man, what a transformation from here to there" ... Especially in athletics, you miss the athletes that want to excel, want to overachieve. You're all on the same page, you're all working for that common goal. I miss a lot of that with the kids.

Selbo: What's the best piece of advice you can give a student?

Dresser: The best piece of advice I can give anybody is do the best that you can everyday. Just do your best, and that's the easy part. Give your best effort and let the chips fall where they may. Be good to people. Don't belittle people because of their ability or their looks. Treat them as you would want to be treated. I think that's very important. And I would say laugh and have fun ... Do your best and do what's right, and you're going to be fine, no matter what you're doing.