Pro-actively, Calhoun is in at Mundelein
Larry Calhoun is not promising championships, nor Mike Singletary.
"We're in negotiations," Calhoun joked after being introduced by the Mundelein District 120 board of education Tuesday night as Mundelein's new football coach.
For Calhoun, discovering a linebacker that has the piercing eyes or plays with the warrior mentality that Singletary did will probably suffice, for starters.
Calhoun, 52, comes to Mundelein after serving as Elk Grove's coach the last three years. His son, Cooper, is married to Singletary's daughter Kristen. Cooper and Kristen have a young daughter, and that's the reason Calhoun and his wife made the move to Illinois' northwest suburbs from Texas three years ago.
"Our first grandchild is what brought us," said Calhoun, whose wife, Kathy, joined him Tuesday night at Mundelein for his introduction as head coach. "I had somebody twisting my arm (smiling, looking at his wife) to look into Illinois. It was probably the best move we've made."
Elk Grove made the state playoffs in Calhoun's first two seasons, going 5-5 in 2012 and 6-4 in 2013. But the Grenadiers went 0-9 last fall, including 0-5 in the Mid-Suburban League East, and after the season the school and Calhoun decided to part ways.
"Elk Grove's a great place," Calhoun said. "I'm leaving some good people, some great kids. I provided a bridge I think to whoever is next. It was just a political situation. It was a good time for me to move on and a good time for somebody to come in there."
Mundelein is where Calhoun needs to be now, he said. But he will have a Texas-sized task in trying to build a winning program at Mundelein, which has won just one game in the last four years. The Mustangs have never won a state-playoff game, have been to the postseason only twice and, since last qualifying for the playoffs in 2004, they have only 13 wins in 10 seasons.
"The challenge interested me," said Calhoun, who replaces George Kaider, who stepped down following three seasons. "All that I've heard about the Mundelein community has interested me, and everybody that I've interviewed with or met during the process has just reinforced that this is a great place to be. If our worst problem is our football record, we're in pretty good shape."
Calhoun grew up in Oklahoma and played defensive tackle for Abilene Christian University in Texas, where he met Kathy. The couple also has an adult daughter. Before coming to Elk Grove, Calhoun served as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas. He also was assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, Texas and offensive coordinator and head strength coach at Dallas Christian High School in Mesquite, Texas.
Calhoun holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Abilene Christian and master of education degree in educational administration from Lamar University. After a successful career in business, he chose to return to school to become a certified teacher.
"We're happy to welcome Larry to our coaching staff and look forward to his leadership in our football program," Mundelein athletic director Perry Wilhelm said. "His record and background speak for themselves, and we anticipate a great rapport between him, the athletes he coaches and his involvement with our entire athletic program."
The Calhouns live in Elk Grove but are planning a move to Mundelein. Calhoun's first priorities as head coach will be assembling a staff and then getting to know his players and their families. He will be joining Mundelein's business department after the school year.
On the field, he likes to run a shotgun formation and spread option.
"We're going to be an option-based team, but it's not going to be the old, under-center, double-wing look," he said. "It's going to look more like what's become conventional, where our quarterback is more of a point guard."
Calhoun stresses that he needs to evaluate the Mustangs' personnel, first, before settling on any specific schemes. Then he'll try to do what so many others have struggled to do, and that's to win football games.
"I don't know if I have any magic potion to make it better," Calhoun said. "But I like to believe we've got a pretty good chance. We're going to try to run schemes and all that to fit our kids, but it's more about a culture. I think they've done some good things here in the past. I just hope I can build on what they've already done and maybe add a little extra that gets us to where we need to be."