Central Lee honors Al Sonnenberg with monument in north end zone

DONNELLSON — Al Sonnenberg is a legend in southeast Iowa.

Sonnenberg was Mr. Football in Illinois his junior year at Collinsville High School. He went on to play football for the University of Iowa, helping the Hawkeyes to the 1959 Rose Bowl.

But Sonnenberg's real claim to fame came at Central Lee High School, where he spent over half of his adult life teaching physical education and coaching. He arrived at Central Lee in 1976, taught there until retiring in 2001 and coached another 15 years after that.

Sonnenberg died in 2018, leaving a huge void in the Central Lee community. The man who never had an unkind word for anyone, had a huge impact on thousands of people through the years at Central Lee.

Central Lee made sure Sonnenberg's legacy will live on forever, dedicating a monument in Sonnenberg's honor at a recent home game.

The monument, in the shape of a football, is between the track and the north end zone, and is a focal point for the team before each home game. As the players and coaches prepare to run onto the field, each one touches to football, similar to what the Clemson players and coaches do when they touch the rock as they enter their stadium before home games.

Central Lee made sure Sonnenberg will continue to touch the lives of young people and the Central Lee community for years to come.

"We always wanted to do a monument after he passed away, but it took a while longer because of COVID," said Kristen (Sonnenberg) Finney, one of Sonnenberg's daughters. "The monument was stuck on a ship from India, so we couldn't do it last football season. It didn't arrive until February. It's pretty neat. Now every kid touches the monument before every home game."

"I think it's going to be an amazing tradition. He embodies what Central Lee football is all about," Central Lee head football coach Chuck Banks said. "We thought this would be a great way to honor Al. We discussed ways to honor him and we came up with building a monument in the north end zone. Now, we touch that football every time we take the field for a game. It's a way to keep his memory alive and remember what he meant for Central Lee."

A lifetime of dedication

Sonnenberg coached high school and middle school football and track and field during his time at Central Lee.

Sonnenberg's dedication to the kids and attention to detail made him one of the top coaches around.

When Sonnenberg was teaching throwers for the Central Lee track and field teams, he carried a notebook and kept track of every throw by every competitor at every meet.

"Al was a great technician. He was great at teaching skills and techniques in track and field," Former Central Lee boys track coach Terry Soli said. "One time we went to Iowa City for a football clinic and the coach of the Buffalo Bills was there. He is the one who taught Reggie White the swim move. He said it was an unstoppable move. He asked for volunteers to show the move on and Al raised his hand. He went up there and the coach could not turn Al with that move. The coach was shocked. He asked Al, 'You played somewhere, didn't you?'"

"I came along in Al's later years as a middle school football coach," Tyler Bryant said. "Al was still coming to practices all the time. He would get done with that and then he would come up to the high school practice and finish up. That's how dedicated he was and how much he cared about the kids."

Always a positive person

Al Sonnenberg was beloved by everyone he met. He always had a good word for anyone he met, whether he knew them or not. That positive, upbeat attitude rubbed off on those around him.

"I met Al when I first started playing football in seventh grade," said Keith Helling, who would go on to coach with Sonnenberg at Central Lee for several years. "I had never played football before. I was a really, really overweight kid. I was probably five-feet tall and weighed 250 pounds. I was very fortunate to play for Al. He helped me out so much. I was so out of shape I could barely run 50 yards. He coached me in track, too. He was always at every single practice working with us. He could give you one piece of advice and add an extra two feet on to your throws. Al had great charisma. You wanted to listen to him."

""Al was a great person, a great mentor and a great friend," Soli said. ""His big saying was, 'There is no hill for a climber.' He would see you around campus and say, 'How is your day going?' He was always so positive with the kids. No matter what, he would always say, 'You can do this. I know you can.' He got the kids to believe in themselves. I have been here 40 years and I have never once me a person who has ever said a bad thing about him. He was always so upbeat. He would tell kids, 'It does no good to complain.'"

"I wanted to be just like Al. He was a strong dude. It was always my dream to play for him," Bryant said. "The night we dedicated the monument to him was the best I have seen Central Lee play since 2019. When I put my hand on that monument before the game that night, I started to tear up. I went over and have his son a big hug. It was a very emotional night."

The legacy lives on

Few people knew how good Al Sonnenberg really was as a player. That's because he seldom talked about himself. He was more concerned with others and helping them get better. That is his true legacy.

""He was not one to brag about his college and high school football accomplishments," Finney said. "I remember one time they were going to play a team from Missouri. Their coach made the comment that Iowa football wasn't very strong, that it was going to be an easy game. My dad blew up that article and put it in the locker room. Central Lee went out and beat them 14-0.. He got the kids to play above their abilities."

"Al loved Central Lee football and he loved the kids," Banks said. "He pushed the kids to be better men."

I remember my first game as seventh-grade coach. I was so nervous I was about to puke. Al was up in the press box and he got on the headphones and said, 'You are going to be OK. We are going to take this one play at a time," Helling said. "He noticed how the other team's defensive tackle was lining up. He told me if we ran the ball there, we would probably get five yards. I ran the play and we got five yards. HE knew how to take advantage of the other team's weaknesses."

"I remember we took the middle school kids up to Iowa and we got to tour their facilities. Someone noticed Al in a Rose Bowl picture and pretty soon all the trainers were getting his autograph," Soli said. "Al loved everything from football to track to fishing and mushroom hunting. Kids would stop by years later and show Coach a fish they caught or a bunch of mushrooms them found and share them with him. He was someone kids really took to. He will be sorely missed."

Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Late coach had a tremendous impact on kids at Central Lee and beyond