March 28, 2024
Illinois High School Football News


News

Sam Baker takes reins of Rolling Meadows program

Baker went 17-13 in 3 seasons at Grayslake North

Sam Baker had a fairly succinct answer to the question as to why he decided to leave the Grayslake North football program and take over the one at Rolling Meadows.

"It's Rolling Meadows," Baker said. "Regardless of what kind of season we had at North, if we would have went 10-1 and went to the quarterfinals, I still would have taken Rolling Meadows. It's that great of a job, it was always on my shortlist and when that came open, I was as shocked as anybody, and decided to throw my hat in the ring and see what happens."

Baker takes over the program from Matt Mishler, who compiled 60 wins in eight seasons and qualified for the playoffs in each of those campaigns. Rolling Meadows has only missed the playoffs once since 2003.

"When I met with the kids last week, I told them that the expectations of the program don't change, only the person sitting in the front of the room does," Baker said. "We'll have a narrow focus. Going 1-0 every week. It switches a little bit at Rolling Meadows for me, the kids know how to win. It becomes about fighting complacency, not saying that are complacent. But that's what you have with to relate to with a winning program."

And while Baker is fully aware of the standard he's expected to meet, he feels his ready for that test.

"I think its exciting, that's what you dream of as a coach," Baker said. "Going into a situation, where kids expect to win, that's really fun. That's what we were trying to build at my previous two stops, but we just had some different opportunities come up that I couldn't pass up. But now I'm at my final stop, and I'm going to be here for a long time and continue the expectations."

The move will also require Baker to grasp a handle on an entirely different landscape of opponents and coaching tendencies with his new job.

"The two biggest things are that the caliber of athletes go up and the caliber of coaches goes up," Baker said. "I thought some of the coaches in Lake County were great coaches, but every stop that I've made along the way has been a step up. At the end of the day, it's still playing good football. Stopping the run, not turning the football over, getting more explosive plays than your opponent and executing at a really, really high level. And putting your kids in a the best position to succeed."

Baker spent the three previous seasons as the head coach at Grayslake North, going 17-13 with a pair of playoff qualifications. Last season, Baker's crew was 5-5 with an opening-round loss to Prairie Ridge in the Class 6A playoffs (51-6).

Prior to that, Baker spent four seasons at Waconia (Minn.) building the program from a one-win team in his first season to a seven-win squad when he left the post for Grayslake North. Prior to his head coaching career, Baker was a college assistant at the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) after his collegiate career at Winona State concluded.

Steve Soucie

Steve Soucie

Steve Soucie is the Managing Editor of Friday Night Drive for Shaw Media. Also previously for Shaw Media, Soucie was the Sports Editor at the Joliet Herald News. Prior to that, Soucie worked at the Kankakee Daily Journal and for Pro Football Weekly.