Retiring CL Central AD Jeff Aldridge will be missed

CRYSTAL LAKE – Jeff Aldridge knows there are aspects of his job as Crystal Lake Central’s athletic director that he will miss next month.

Aldridge, above everything else, is a people person. He will miss the interactions with students, athletes, administrators and, especially, his coaching staffs.

“There’s people who come in, ‘How you doing today, Jeff?’” Aldridge said. “They’re checking on me and it should be the other way around. ‘You hanging in there?’ That’s pretty cool. That’s pretty special. I’ll miss that.”

Central undoubtedly will miss Aldridge, a 1986 Central graduate who has become a Tigers icon.

Central principal Eric Ernd, who is retiring at the end of the school year, calls Aldridge “an amazing professional.”

“He values people and he treats people really well,” Ernd said. “That’s tough to lose in any organization. Education is a people business.

“Jeff’s ability to be an outstanding listener is unmatched. His ability to listen and problem-solve while understanding that there’s a human behind everything. He really understands that side of it. He listens with the best attention to make everything great for our student-athletes.”

Aldridge, 55, is retiring this month and will devote more time to his family, wife Kari and their two children, both of whom are married. The Aldridges have one grandson and another grandchild on the way.

Dave Shutters, in his 24th year at Central, most of which has been as dean of students, will take over for Aldridge in January. Aldridge did what he loved at the school he loved most for more than three decades.

“I need to take a little bit better care of myself,” he said. “I’ve really neglected my body for the last six to eight months. I was pretty good at that for a while and it kind of got away from me.

“I need to be a better husband. I need to be more present for my family. Not that there has been anything bad. I am very fortunate to have a wife (Kari) who was an athlete and a coach and who works in education. So she understands. She gets it. I tear up because I realize how lucky I’ve been.”

Their daughter, Kailey Rafford, and her husband Brad have a son Lincoln. The Aldridges’ son Cal and his wife Corinne are expecting their first child. Both Kailey and Cal teach special education in District 155 and Cal was hired as Central’s new baseball coach.

Jeff’s ability to be an outstanding listener is unmatched. His ability to listen and problem-solve while understanding that there’s a human behind everything. He really understands that side of it.”

—  Eric Ernd, Crystal Lake Central principal

Cal was not Jeff Aldridge’s last coaching hire.

“I had nothing to do with that,” Aldridge said. “(Cal) told me he was going to apply and it was Eric (Ernd) and Dave (Shutters) on that.”

Aldridge played football, basketball and baseball at Central. He started college at Indiana as a preferred walk-on shortstop and business major.

“I hated the classes,” he said. “I couldn’t see myself sitting at a desk.”

Aldridge didn’t see an opportunity to play for the Hoosiers either, so he transferred to Milligan Christian College (now Milligan University) in Tennessee, an NAIA school. He thrived in baseball and as a math education major.

Aldridge thought back to his high school coaches he admired like Dennis Koerner, Bill Mack, Ray Card and Arnie Kay, among others.

“When I graduated from high school I was like a lot of people, ‘I’ll go make some money,’” Aldridge said. “But it’s not about money, it’s about being happy. I had so many great influences when I was in school that I wanted to be like them.”

Aldridge substitute taught, then taught one year at Libertyville before he got calls from Doug Blundy at Central and Herb Weiersbach at Crystal Lake South, both chairmen of their math departments.

Aldridge taught math and was an assistant football and baseball coach. He later assisted with girls basketball. He took over as head baseball coach in 2000, one year after his father Gary had been coach. So Cal Aldridge will be following his grandfather and father as the Tigers’ varsity baseball coach.

Jeff Aldridge was assistant AD under Blundy, who also coached volleyball for 27 seasons and softball for 25. Blundy died after a long bout with cancer in early 2011 and Aldridge took over as AD. He currently has the second-longest tenure of any Fox Valley Conference AD, about eight months behind South’s Jason Bott.

Shutters, who has been in D-155 for 27 years, spent time last spring preparing, while he was still dean of students. He worked more closely with Aldridge this fall preparing to take over.

“I’m taking notes. I have a notebook, I’m trying to jot down everything so I can absorb it and use it for future reference,” Shutters said. “It’s big shoes to fill. There’s a lot of differences in being a dean of students for 25 years, where it’s more reactive to being AD, where it’s proactive with planning, scheduling, organizing, working with coaches and athletes.

“(Aldridge) has done a good job mentoring me through all those processes.”

Even though Ernd is Aldridge’s supervisor, he sees him as a mentor.

“His ability to give me advice at times when I need some has been very beneficial,” Ernd said. “With the history, the school, the traditions, all those things maybe I could overlook. It’s been nice to have him by my side with his knowledge and ability to understand the big picture.”

The students and athletes will miss Aldridge’s uplifting attitude. He is the kind of person who finds positivity in everything. For example, this is how Aldridge views the work days that often start at 7 a.m. and may not end until 10 p.m.

“It gives you energy sometimes,” he said. “A lot of times the best part of your day starts at 3 o’clock. I count it as two halves. The 7 (a.m.) to 3 o’clock is the first half and 3 o’clock on is the second half. Watching our kids accomplish things, watching our kids having fun, whether it be on the court or on the field or in the stands, is pretty cool.

“I’m very, very fortunate. I’m very, very blessed to be around incredible people and be given the opportunities I’ve been given to teach and coach here. It’s been cool to give back a lot of what was given to me. It’s been amazing.”