advertisement

Ault steps down at Graylake Central

Another Lake County high school is seeking a head football coach.

Grayslake Central athletic director Steve Gertz has confirmed that Ben Ault has stepped down after just two seasons. Ault’s wife recently gave birth to the couple’s first child.

“After some soul-searching on his part and his family’s, I think he’s decided that he wasn’t going to be able to commit the time and energy that it takes to be a good head coach,” Gertz said. “Ben is still interested in coaching and being a part of the program, but he also understands the time commitment of being a head coach.”

Ault’s resignation means that in addition to Grayslake Central, fellow Lake County schools Grant, North Chicago and Warren are also seeking new head football coaches.

Grayslake Central will be seeking the fifth different person to head its football program in this century.

“We were a little bit surprised (by Ault’s decision),” Gertz said. “We told the assistant coaches and the kids (Thursday) and we posted the position (Friday). We have not set a definite timeline yet. The first phase is we’re going to have a small committee to find out exactly what we’re looking for in our next head coach, and then the next phase will be to start looking through the application process and begin the interview process.

“It’ll be a little bit before we get going,” Gertz added. “But we want to make this a quick, smooth transition for everybody.”

A former longtime assistant coach, Ault replaced Nick Goshe (2007-11), who replaced Mike Munda (2005-06), who replaced Vito Andriola (2001-2004). Goshe’s teams won 13 games in his final two seasons, earning back-to-back playoff berths.

The Rams went 2-7 in Ault’s first season, before finishing 4-5 last fall.

“This was Ben’s decision,” Gertz said. “We didn’t push him out or anything like that. We were happy with the direction of the program. At the same time, we respect his decision, and we’re going to continue working with him in different ways.”

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.