Piron, Eimer take over at Batavia, W. Aurora
Almost 30 years ago, back when Dennis Piron was a senior at Batavia High School in 1983, an assistant coach with the Bulldogs named Mike Gaspari spent extra time working with Piron and telling the tight end in a run-oriented T offense that he had the skills to play wide receiver in college.
Piron, who said he went out for “two passes a game” at Batavia and spent the rest of the time blocking, did just that, playing wide receiver for four years at North Central College.
Piron returned to Batavia in 1989 as a sophomore coach, moved to the varsity defensive coordinator position in 1992, and stayed there for 18 years coaching with Gaspari.
Gaspari retired last fall after the Bulldogs went 5-5 and made the playoffs. Piron was selected to replace the Hall of Fame coach, who Piron called “like a dad to me, like a best friend.”
On Wednesday, Piron was one of two area coaches to run his first practice as a head coach at his alma mater, joining Nate Eimer who also is replacing a Hall of Fame coach at West Aurora.
“It’s a big opportunity for me, I’ve been here a long time,” Piron said. “It’s a dream come true. The best part is the continuity of our coaching staff. It’s really good for our kids.”
Matt Holm, another Batavia graduate who Piron said he has known his whole life, moves into the defensive coordinator role while Gaspari will call plays and handle the offense.
Piron joked with experienced coordinators like that he has “the easiest job in the world.”
“I have a lot of pride to be in this position,” Piron said. “Our kids have put in such effort in the off-season.
“It’s special, it’s truly the start of the IHSA season and the kids love it, but we’ve been working together since November honestly. Our summer program is highly successful. We’ve very proud of that. Today was almost a review day. We’re fine-tuning, we’re making sure we remember what we covered in the summer time.”
Gaspari’s son Noel returns for his third year as the team’s starting quarterback and said having a new head coach isn’t that much of a change to him.
“I’m still used it to it, my dad is still calling the plays,” Gaspari said. “Piron is doing a good job. I like it, it’s a good change.
“We have a lot of new offense in. We’ve got a bunch of fast guys. I think we are going to throw a lot more this year. We have a bunch of good backs, we have good depth. We’re all excited.”
Receivers like Evan Zeddies — who Piron said dominated in 7-on-7 camps this summer — Jon Gray and Zach Strittmatter have stood out and give Batavia the potential to be a potent offense.
“Mike has a lot of wrinkles and Noel is an exceptional quarterback,” Piron said. “Mike has a lot of little things he’s adding to the offense now that he’s not worried about being the athletic director, head coach, those things. He’s like a mad scientist over there. The kids love it. You’ll see some different things from us this year that Mike is very excited about. He’s taking full advantage of the talent he has on the team. We are looking forward to this season.”
In addition to the skill players, Piron also is excited about linemen like Alec Lyons and Nick Pappas and safety Kevin Schroeder, among others.
“I think all our linemen get after it and like to smack you,” Piron said. “Kevin Schroeder will drop you, he’s a ballhawk.”
One key player Batavia is looking forward to getting back on the field is senior defensive end and tight end Cole Gardner, an All-Area selection as a junior in both football and basketball who hurt his right knee this summer and was on the sidelines for Wednesday’s practice. Piron, also Batavia’s track coach, has been working with Gardner on a running program.
“Doctors said it’s fully healed, just a matter of him getting in shape,” Piron said. “It’s a day-to-day approach. He’s resumed full-speed running this week. We don’t know, he could play in Week 1, he could play in Week 4, he could play in Week 2. But I would venture to say he’ll play the majority of our football season.”
Meanwhile at West Aurora, Eimer takes over for another Hall of Fame coach, Buck Drach.
Like Piron, Eimer knows his new job well having graduated from West Aurora in 2001. He played both football and basketball.
Eimer, who comes to West Aurora after serving as the football offensive coordinator and girls basketball coach at Oswego East, has five senior stalwarts on defense that figure to anchor his first team: linebackers Brandon Warren and Kendall Williams, linemen Javonta Black and Austin Beebe, and defensive back Nathan Zinzer.
The Blackhawks are looking for their first playoff berth since 1994. They’ve added a new nonconference game in Week 2, dropping longtime rival Elgin to play St. Charles East.
“This is a very strong group of seniors,” Eimer said. “Our defense is going to be the strength of our team. We need to find ways to control the ball on offense and excel on special teams in order to compete in the DVC.”