Q&A With Rochester Football Coach Derek Leonard
Rochester High School Football Coach Derek Leonard is one of the most decorated coaches in Illinois history, and has accomplished the feat under the age of 40. (Source: State Journal-Register)
Derek Leonard, 40, is already one of the most decorated high school football coaches in the history of the state. He has led Rochester High School, just outside of Springfield, to a state championship in 8 of the past 10 seasons. With the 2020 season on hold, Leonard and his Hall of Fame father, Ken, are two of the leading voices trying to get Governor JB Pritzker to reverse course on a decision with postponed high school football to fall. The Leonards are joining other coaches promoting the “Let Us Play” rallies at the Thompson Center in Chicago and the State Capitol in Springfield Saturday. Here is our interview with Leonard. Some questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: How did this come about? Is it football specific?
Derek Leonard: This is led by a bunch of coaches from a bunch of sports. It really is for all of the sports. We don’t care who plays now, we just want somebody to play now. Whether it’s us, whether it’s spring sports. Because if we start the calendar now, we’re dealing with seven months or eight months instead of six to five and a half. Then you don’t have any wiggle room. And we’re worried about the mental health of kids. You hear a lot of stories about how some are really struggling.
Q: When you look at the numbers right now (260,000 cases and 8,000 deaths in Illinois), does it make you think there are more important things in the world right now than football?
Leonard: It is scary. I’m glad other states have done it before us. But, I think when you see every state around us, or even close to us, except for Minnesota, is playing sports and you see we have a better positivity rate than those states. There’s a lot of hypocrisy. My son, who is a 4th grader, is out playing baseball and flag football and lots of sports. We’re letting youth sports play but not high school? I think that’s where coaches get frustrated. I don’t want to die, I don’t want anyone else to die, but I also don’t want to live in fear. Personally, I’d let my son play. I think that’s how a lot of us see it. But everyone is going to look at [the statistics] differently and that doesn’t make anyone wrong or right. I try not to be a political person, but people can’t tell me ‘oh, it’s science based,’ there’s so much politics that goes into this thing on both sides. But, we want to do what’s right for the kids, and that’s what everyone’s fighting for.
Q: When football season was postponed, a lot of the anger, especially downstate, was directed at Governor Pritzker. Is he the person coaches, players, and parents as the obstacle?
Leonard: It’s like the head coach. The offensive coordinator may make a bad call, but, in the end, it’s on the head coach. We understand it is political and he controls everything under him. It comes from him, but I also don’t think the total blame goes with him. There is some [blame] on the IHSA and on the counties and other places. These days, nothing boils down to just one person. But he is the governor. He is our head coach. In the end, as political as things are, it does come down to him. We tried the IHSA, and the IHSA said ‘well, we’re going to defer that to the Governor.’ Coaches and players felt like they had no voice and we were not being heard, being talked to, or being trusted as professionals as what we do. [Pritzker] has a high percentage of it, but he doesn’t have all the blame.
Q: As you watch college football and pro football and other state high schools have a lot of success playing games, and as you see the evidence from those games, do you think this is the time Illinois should be reassessing things?
Leonard: It is. We’re adapting. I think we [in Illinois] have done a good job and taken it slow, but they’re doing it in other places and they’re having success. We’re going to take better care of these kids than at the college or pro level. They wear their masks because they want to do it. This is as focused as I’ve ever seen my group of kids, and I’ve talked to other coaches and people who are having school and they’re saying the kids want to be there. It’s hard right now with the rules in place, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a principal or superintendent right now. From a school standpoint, we’re remote learning. Kids are going from home to practice and back home. It’s almost like a college or pro [bubble]. We need to give these kids some hope and something to work for. And, that’s all they want. It’s not just football, it’s bands, cheerleaders, and other clubs, too.
Q: Is it hypocritical for you, in a remote learning district, to say school isn’t safe but football is?
Leonard: I personally think [school buildings] are safe enough, but with the additional rules, it is so hard for schools, a lot harder than having kids drive to practice and keeping them spaced out on a football field. With passing each other in hallways and testing and contact tracing, it’s a lot harder for schools than it is for sports.
Q: Would you be comfortable or supportive of playing games with no fans?
Leonard: I would. I think it would be hard to eliminate everyone like parents. There would have to be regulations about capacity and spacing, at a minimum. I would like there to be at least parents, and band members, but if that’s part of it [to start up the season], I’m willing to have no fans there.
Q: Have you imagined a scenario where one of your kids gets sick or someone in the crowd gets sick and, God forbid, passes away? Are you prepared for those consequences?
Leonard: I’ve thought about it, and I’ve thought about my own children. There’s risk to everything that I do. In football, there’s a chance for injury and you hear horror stories. The best way to put it is that I’d let my child play right now.