How West Central football's assistant coaches give its program a distinct advantage
BIGGSVILLE, Ill. -- Jason Kirby knows a thing or two about coaching high school football.
One of the first things Kirby learned is that in order to be successful, one has to surround himself with winners.
Kirby did exactly that when he picked his assistant coaches.
Together, the Heat's assistant coaching staff of Steve Arnold, Richard Clifton, Steve Lumbeck, Tom Williams and Jim Unruh has close to 150 years of combined experience coaching football.
The West Central assistant coaches have played a key role in the Heat's 12-0 start to the season and a berth in the 8-player state championship game.
West Central will play Amboy (10-2) in the state championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at Monmouth College.
Previously:Droste's 26-yard run on final play sends West Central into state championship game
The Heat hope to capture lightning in a bottle and cap a dream season with the first state championship in program history.
"We have a wide range of personalities and thought processes that work together incredibly well," Kirby said. "All of them have one thing in mind and that is they want to do what is best for our kids and they are gong to give every bit of energy they have to give our kids the best experience they can have in football."
"I started coaching football at Stronghurst in 1968. I helped with the football team up here beginning n 1962 just as a volunteer coach," said Clifton, 82, who coaches the cornerbacks and running backs. "I feel like I owe the school system in Henderson County for everything I've accomplished. They gave me my first job and the only opportunity I would have had to teach. I'm going to do this as long as I can. I still enjoy working with kids. We have a super bunch of kids."
"It's been one of the best seasons I've been a part of. We've had quite a bit of success here in our seven seasons together. You don't get special things without working hard," said Williams, a graduate of Farmington High School who came to West Central seven years ago with Kirby. "It's been one of the best seasons I've been a part of. We've had quite a bit of success here in our seven seasons together. You don't get special things without working hard."
"I think the diligence, the attention to detail," Arnold said. "There's a lot of experience. There's a lot of people who have been there, done that. Once you get past the math, it's still football. It's still blocking. It's still tackling. We have four to their three. We have a hat for a hat."
All on the same page
While the West Central coaching staff comes from a wide variety of backgrounds, they all have one common goal: put the players in the best position possible to succeed.
Kirby is a stickler for details, but when it comes to coaching, he gives his assistants a free rein. That keeps the assistant coaches engaged and helps the Heat focus on those small details that make the difference between winning and losing.
"These guys are great. You have a lot of great football minds on this team. Coach Kirby has an incredible offensive scheme going on. Coach Williams does all the defensive schemes. He knows them inside and out. He is just terrific," said Lumbeck, a retired electrician. "I've been coaching football for about 15 years now. I've been coaching these seniors since they were in Burlington YMCA football all the way up from JFL football up through middle school football. I was their head coach. I was fortunate to have Coach Kirby ask me to come up to the high school and work on the defensive line."
"It's just a lot of fun. There's great camaraderie with the staff. It's fun to be around them. (Kirby) does not try to manage his staff. He lets you do what you need to do to get the job done," said Unruh, who had 256 career coaching wins and led Carthage and Illini West to six state championships. "It's a blast for me. During games and at practices I do a lot of what I call quality control. I just try to watch the whole process going through together and give suggestions, whether it is to players or to coaches."
Related:West Central football lures Hall of Fame coach Jim Unruh out of retirement to assist team
"I've been really fortunate. Steve Arnold has been with the program since the program started. Mr. Clifton has been here since time started. All the success we've had, it's neat to see those two with the vested interest that they have in our program," Kirby said. "Steve Lumbeck is a community member and has been his entire life. He is invested in a similar way. Tom has been here since I have been here. He and I just gel so well together. Jim Unruh is a wealth of knowledge who offers a different perspective on everything because he can look at things from a different lens because we're focusing on other things. He can disconnect himself and see things from a different angle."
It's all about the kids
One thing the West Central coaches have in common is their unselfishness. That permeates down to the players. They don't care who gets the glory, the accolades or the headlines. It's all about the team and winning.
"They have a lot of heart, they believe in themselves and they feel like they have a purpose," Clifton said. "Since the pandemic, we've told this kids they have the opportunity to bring a sense of pride back to our school and to our community. They bought in."
"DYJ -- Do Your Job. To be the best you means we are the best us. That's played a huge factor. I don't have to worry about the guy next to me. I know if I do my job, I trust that they are going to do theirs. It's played a huge factor," Williams said. "Everyone has heart. The way this team's heart beats, it truly is one team, one heart, one belief. Everyone working together is amazing."
"Offensively, defensively they do their job. They are perfectly content to let somebody else do that other job. That requires quote a bit of trust," Arnold said.
Refusing to lose
West Central was down to its final play in Saturday's semifinal game at Polo. Facing a 48-44 deficit and 4.2 seconds on the clock, the Heat had the ball at the Polo 26-yard line with time to run one play.
Quarterback Mason Carnes tossed the ball to all-state tailback Kaiden Droste, who got several blocks along the left sideline. Somehow, Droste broke free from a pack of four Polo defenders and waltzed into the end zone, capping an improbable 50-48 victory.
More:West Central football team putting up eye-popping numbers behind physical offensive line
It is that kind of hear and determination which has set West Central apart from the rest this season.
"You watch him take off and you have no idea what is going to happen," Unruh said. "The next thing you know he is in the end zone with a touchdown. For the me, the first thing I look for is a penalty flag. When I see no penalty flags on the field, then I see the officials leaving the field. Then it's time to celebrate. Not before. It was as exciting as it gets."
"As a fan, it was the greatest game you could have watched. It was back and forth," Lumbeck said. "As a coach it was nerve wracking. You're up and then you are behind. The kinds never stopped believing. They never had their heads down. Their body language was always next play and that's what they did."
"Very enjoyable. It was very exciting. I'm too old to have played video games, but I assume that's what it is like, except I'm playing with real people. It was very exciting, very enjoyable," Arnold said. "I was as surprised as everyone. I was very happy for the boys. You could see that unbridled joy which is rare."
Once more, for all the marbles
West Central gets a rematch against Amboy, this one for the state championship. The Clippers were without their starting quarterback in the previous game, a 68-30 West Central victory in the final regular season game.
Win or lose, the Heat are going to bring everything they have for 48 minutes and leave it all on the field.
"Friday is going to be a hard-nosed ball game. We played Amboy up there on Senior Night. It was a tough game. It is going to be a grind-it-out kind of game," Williams said.
"It's going to be pretty emotional. This is my last year of coaching. I'm hanging it up. I'm going out with the seniors," Lumbeck said. "But what a way to go out. These guys are so focused. They are so easy to coach. They are very dedicated to it."
"This has been a dream of mine. When Coach Kirby was hired on as head coach seven years ago, he came and asked me to come out and help with the football team," Clifton said.
"Friday will be special for our community. It will be lifelong memories for the people of West Central and our team," Kirby said.
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: How West Central football assistants’ experience gives team advantage
