Dirk Stanger made it an easy choice for football coach at Crystal Lake Central

Everyone at Crystal Lake Central, from principal Eric Ernd and athletic director Jeff Aldridge to the players in the Tigers football program, had seen Dirk Stanger in action.

For six seasons, Stanger was former coach Jon McLaughlin’s right-hand man, calling offenses that produced big yards and points. They saw how he worked, and just as importantly, how he interacted with the players.

Stanger made the choice an obvious one for Central’s administration when McLaughlin stepped down as coach after taking the Tigers to an 8-4 season and a Class 6A playoffs quarterfinal appearance. Stanger was officially hired Tuesday night at the District 155 school board meeting as head football coach and for a paraprofessional supervisory position at the school.

“It’s just kind of my approach to coaching,” Stanger said. “It all goes back to kids knowing that you care about them. That’s the biggest thing. I care about all these guys and their futures and what they want to do. That was a big thing for Jeff (Aldridge) and (principal) Eric (Ernd) and getting more out of kids and more kids involved.”

Aldridge said the administration and staff are excited to have Stanger as head coach. Their familiarity with Stanger was invaluable.

“It’s like a student teacher, that’s how I relate it,” Aldridge said. “Anytime you promote from within, whether it’s a teacher in the classroom to a division leader or assistant to head coach or student teacher and give them a job, those are on-the-job interviews that are happening. You get a better glimpse of somebody in those scenarios than you do in just three rounds of one hour each. Sometimes people can say the right things, but you really don’t know them until you get to live with them, so to speak.”

Stanger also impressed Central’s administration by wanting to take a job in the building. Stanger works as senior recruiting specialist for Next College Student Athlete, but as of Monday, also works at Central during school days.

“It’s not something he had to do. It’s something he wanted to do because he wanted to be around our kids,” Aldridge said. “That’s very, very admirable of him. That hits you in the heart. Plus, it helps form relationships throughout our entire building. That’s very valuable.

“It’s tougher and tougher to get people in our building with some of these (coaching) jobs. This will help him more create relationships with our staff and our teachers and our other athletic programs and activities. It will lend itself to that.”

Stanger insisted it be that way.

“I’m big on being visible, not only in workouts, but throughout the day,” he said. “You want to mentor and guide them through four very important years in your life. Just be around them and get to know them more.”

Stanger grew up in Woodstock and graduated from Marian Central in 1993. He played quarterback at Wisconsin under former coach Barry Alvarez and offensive coordinator Brad Childress.

Stanger was a long-time assistant under former Marian coach Ed Brucker. The Hurricanes produced four NCAA Division I quarterbacks in a row (Jon Budmayr, Ben Krol, Chris Streveler and Billy Bahl) while Stanger was there.

Two of Central’s quarterbacks, Jake Staples and Aidan Ellinger, had 2,000-yard-plus passing seasons under Stanger’s tutelage. Colton Madura would have easily passed for more than 2,000 last season had he not missed three games with a hip injury.

“It’s awesome. I’m blessed. I definitely wouldn’t be here without the players that I’ve coached and the coaches that I coached under,” Stanger said. “I’ve been very fortunate playing under Barry Alvarez and Brad Childress and growing up watching Don Penza at Marian, and working for a guy like coach (Ed) Brucker.

“I’ve just been blessed to get where I am. It’s a long time coming and I’m real excited about the opportunity. I really think Central is a gold mine. There’s a lot of stuff there coming up through the pipeline and I’m real excited about it.”

Terry Stanger, Dirk’s father, was a long-time Marian assistant and was on the sideline with Penza for three of the Hurricanes’ four Class 2A state championships in the 1980s. Penza died in the spring of 1989, the Hurricanes won their fourth title with Steve Patton as coach that season.

Now, Stanger will have Jason Penza, Don Penza’s grandson, as his quarterback for the next two seasons. Jason Penza started two games while Madura was recovering last season.