West Central football lures Hall of Fame coach Jim Unruh out of retirement to assist team

BIGGSVILLE, Ill. -- When he hung up his whistle and retired from coaching and teaching a few years ago, Illinois High School Association Hall of Fame football coach Jim Unruh had no intention of ever stepping back onto the gridiron in any capacity.

No sir. He and his wife bought a house near Avon, Illinois, and Unruh spends his days out on the lake bass fishing, his favorite hobby.

And when he isn't fishing, Unruh and his wife are busy traveling the country visiting national parks. To date they have seen 30 of them in person.

But coach football? No way, no how.

That is until West Central High School head football coach Jason Kirby came calling. And calling. And calling.

Unruh finally gave in last season, agreeing to be an assistant coach for the Heat.

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Unruh, 60, joined a West Central coaching staff which includes Kirby, Steve Arnold, Richard Clifton, Steve Lumbeck and Tom Williams, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable staffs in western Illinois.

Unruh is having the time of his life at West Central, and there is still plenty of time for bass fishing.

"Coach Kirby asked me to come out and help out with them. I've known him. He's been a good friend for many, many years on the coaching circuit. When he asked I think I told him no about 10 times. He kept asking and I finally just decided to join him. I'm glad I did. It's a lot of fun," Unruh said. "I really enjoy what I'm doing now. I love being out here and being an assistant and working with Coach Kirby and the rest of the staff. "I have a lot of fun with it. It's really a lot of fun for me being out here working with these guys. I really appreciate Coach Kirby giving me a role that's a lot of fun and that I'm able to help them out."

Unruh has played his part in helping the Heat go a combined 16-2 over the last two seasons, including 9-0 heading into the first round of the 8-Man playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday against South Beloit at West Central High School.

Like the other assistant coaches on the team, Unruh has specific assignments at practice and on game day. The coaching staff works as one with the common goal of putting the team in the best possible position to win, week in and week out.

"Coach Unruh does a great job, but all of our assistants do a good job," Kirby said. "We give all of our coaches the freedom to be able to coach their positions. Every one of them -- Coach Lumbeck, Coach Clifton, Coach Arnold and Coach Williams -- all do an awesome job with what we're doing. They all work together so well. I am so proud to be a part of them. To be honest, I leave those guys alone and they design our defense and I just coach my position in that whole deal."

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The Heat have plenty of talented players and great leadership from a solid senior class. But whenever they need a word of wisdom, who better to turn to than a Hall of Fame coach who had 209 career wins and won five state championships as head coach at Carthage and Illini West?

"Coach Unruh is great. He talks a lot about takeaways," West Central senior running back/defensive back Kaiden Droste said. "Takeaways are huge. Colton(Fletcher) got an interception today. That was a big turning point in the game right after we gave up that onside kick. We gave up that onside kick, got it back and scored, then got another onside kick and scored again and suddenly we're up four or five touchdowns. Takeaways are just huge for us."

"He's great. He tells us everything," said defensive back Colton Fletcher. "Whether it's recovering the ball, playing safe, just doing you job, basically. Don't let anything bother you and keep your head in the game."

Unruh is not surprised at the success the Heat are having. He saw many of this year's team members when he was coaching junior high track in Carthage. He knew then the potential this group of athletes has.

"I actually coached junior high track for quite a long time and I remembered a lot of these kids from junior high track when I was coaching junior high track at Carthage," Unruh said. "I got to see a lot of these kids in person and the speed they had. It's just a lot of fun chatting with them and working with them."

Unruh, like the rest of the coaching staff, has made a smooth transition to the 8-man game. The Heat staked their claim to the mythical state championship two years ago, going unbeaten during the COVID year. They came back with a 7-2 campaign last year.

West Central is the No. 2 seed in the bracket and have their sights set on a state championship. But the Heat know they have to take it one game at a time, one play at a time.

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Unruh has been there and done that. He will help make sure they stay grounded and focused on this week's opponent.

"It is a lot of fun. It's really not much different than 11-man football. You have to block. You have to tackle. You still have to do the fundamentals of the game. I'm having a blast coaching with this coaching staff and also working with these players," Unruh said. "It's a lot of fun when you coach in a great place. They do a great job of supporting these kids. They're fun to watch. They're a fun group of kids to watch play."

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: JIm Unruh back on sidelines as West Central football assistant coach