It’s been a long time since Tracy Williams has seen a DeKalb team this good.

Williams, the District 428 school board president, is enjoying the memories it brings back to the teams of the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

“I would say today we’re getting back much closer to that [sense of pride and community surrounding the team],” said Williams, whose son, Leif, is a junior linebacker on the team. “There’s a lot of community pride in the team. You wouldn’t have seen this type of enthusiasm and support in these numbers. Just look at how full Huskie Stadium was for the Sycamore game.”

As a member of the class of 1978, Williams remembers high-profile players who went to DeKalb High School – Super Bowl champion Karl Nelson of the 1986 New York Giants, L.A. Rams linebacker Mel Owens – in the late 1970s and early ’80s. He remembers the Barbs team in 1980 that took second in the state.

He also remembers the lean years, when the Barbs didn’t win more than two games in a season from 1994 until a three-win campaign in 2007.

DeKalb is 7-0 heading into their game tonight against Yorkville with the Northern Illinois Big 12 East Division crown on the line.

Doug Moeller, now superintendent of District 428, was principal of DeKalb High seven years ago.

He said he’s noticed a change in how parents and fans view the football team.

“People did not have high expectations for the football team [in years past],” Moeller said. “I don’t want to say it was accepted, but there were not significant expectations for postseason performance for football.”

Both Moeller and Williams said they’ve seen a new winning attitude spread across all sports this fall, and credited the coaches and administration at the school for that.

First-year DeKalb athletic director Tom Kim said it’s hard to tell from the attendance numbers about the increased interest in the team – he also said the numbers from the team’s two home games this year were unavailable. Aside from the fact that there’s only been two games this year at the Barbs’ stadium, weather has wrecked havoc on both games.

“What I can tell you is this – I was really happy with the crowd that stuck around in the home opener against Vernon Hills,” Kim said. “That was the game we kicked off about 9:45 at night, and I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think there was a single student that went home. They stuck it out in the fieldhouse. We had a ton of parents sticking around.”

On Wednesday, Kim said he hoped the weather would be cooperative for the first time this year, and Mother Nature may oblige. The forecast for Friday night is cloudy skies with a kickoff temperature of 53 degrees. If the weather holds, Kim said he expected a big, enthusiastic crowd.

But even with the weather he said he’s noticed a difference in the fans. Booster club members have noticed a difference, too – in the way the community supports the team, club President Walter Thompson said.

“We have a lot of people around the community, businesses, instead of us calling them all the time to ask for their support, they’re actually calling us,” said Thompson, whose son Devonte is a Barbs offensive lineman. “It just seems over the past few months, as the team wins more and more, it seems like the excitement keeps building up and there are more people around the community who just want to be involved.”

Like the administrators, booster club Secretary Julie Smith said she expects the success of the football team to carry over into other sports.

“I would think the success of the football team is going to lead to bigger membership going forward,” Smith said. “As parents see success happening with the teams, they want to be more involved.”

Williams said the staff is in place at DeKalb to sustain success. He said he doesn’t define success as wins and losses, but in terms of getting athletes to compete at their highest levels.

“That may be .500 for some groups and state championships for others,” Williams said. “But the culture needs to make it so each group maximizes its own potential. And I think we have the people in place to do that year in and year out.”