New Berlin tabs Auburn and Illinois College grad as next football coach
NEW BERLIN — New Berlin has tabbed James Dambacher as the next head football coach, pending school board approval on Feb. 16, the school announced on Friday.
Dambacher, a 2010 Auburn graduate, has assisted his alma mater since 2018. That included serving as a defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator under former Auburn and IC classmate Ryan Gardner.
The Trojans reached the first round of the Class 2A playoffs and finished 6-4 this past fall. He replaces Seth Hill, who went 16-26 over five seasons with the Pretzels.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome James and his family to the Pretzel family,” New Berlin athletic director Blake Lucas said. “We are looking forward to seeing how the football grows under his direction.”
Dambacher was a standout defensive end at NCAA Division III Illinois College. The 2015 IC graduate was named all-Midwest Conference first team with 10.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery as a senior.
He was also a three-sport athlete at Auburn in football, basketball and track and field.
Unexpected coaching journey
Former longtime Auburn football coach Dave Bates introduced Dambacher to the prospect of coaching in 2015. Dambacher said Bates pulled him aside one day in Jacksonville and hatched the idea.
The Trojans went state runner-up in Class 2A that season, and Dambacher subsequently joined the Marines Corps before an injury led to a medical discharge.
He resumed coaching at IC in 2017 before returning to Auburn. He is currently a physical education teacher at the Sangamon Area Special Education District in Springfield.
“He was like, 'Hey, do you know what you're doing yet?” Dambacher said of the meeting with Bates. “And I was like, 'No, not really,' and he goes, 'Well, why don't you come to Auburn and coach on my staff with me. I know you don't have a teaching degree, but we can get you in the school as an aide or a paraprofessional,' so that's where I started working in a special education room.
“That whole year I was there, I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it a lot, so whenever I came home, I still wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do after the Marine Corps. But, I started figuring it out.”
Dambacher credited a number of coaches along the way — not to mention his wife, Rayna. That included Bates and assistant Bill Karhliker at Auburn and Garrett Campbell and Ray DeFrisco at IC.
The Pretzels, by the way, open the 2023 season against Auburn.
“When you work next to them, you kind of learn the ins and outs of being a coach and when you work under somebody like Dave Bates, you've just got to kind of watch them work and you learn,” Dambacher said.
Dambacher intends to teach within the New Berlin school district and said he has been more than buoyed by the community’s support.
“I'm looking forward to getting to meet the kids, I want to see the kids,” Dambacher said. “I want to look them in the eye and tell them that I'm going to be there for them and we're going to build something together and it's going to be something special, so that's really what I'm looking forward to.
“I want to see those kids and I want to get to know those kids.”
Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Auburn grad James Dambacher to take reins at New Berlin
