CROWN POINT (04-16-2012) “If you were comfortable with the way Chip did things, you’ll be comfortable with me,” said Crown Point’s new football new coach Kevin Enright late Monday.

Crown Point high school didn't take long to name a new coach. Less than two weeks after longtime coach Chip Pettit announced that he’d be moving up into the principal’s office, former CP defensive coordinator Kevin Enright was named the new varsity football coach. It was an obvious choice.

Enright, a former government teacher at Crown Point, left the school after the 2008 season to take a teaching and coaching position at Homewood-Flossmoor high school in south suburban Chicago, the same school where former CPHS principal Ryan Pitcock is now principal.

So when the head coaching opening came up in Crown Point, it made a lot of sense that Enright, who was CP’ s defensive coordinator with Pettit as head coach from 2002-2008 (including undefeated regular seasons in (2005 and 2006) would come back to lead the Bulldogs again.

It was a short search because the position that Pettit was vacating was assistant principal and candidates to fill that position needed to have acquired an administrative license. Most teachers do not have that, but Enright does. It was also a short search because there isn't anybody more qualified for this position.

“We are excited to have Kevin back to lead our football program here at Crown Point,” said CP athletic director Bill Dorulla. "He was an outstanding teacher and coach during his time here previously and he will do a fabulous job in his new role.”

Pettit, who will take over as CP's new principal in August, added, “Kevin builds great relationships with his players and coaches. He knows football and he has a tremendous work ethic. We are looking forward to his leadership as our new coach.”

When Enright left Crown Point high school, he didn’t have ideas of returning, even though he never moved his family out of town.

“Chip and I sat down and he said that if you want to grow you’re going to have to go someplace else,” he recalls. “So when the opportunity at Homewood-Flossmoor came up, I wanted to see where that would lead. There was never a plan in place that if Chip stepped down that I would come back. Dr. (CP’s principal who Pettit is replacing) Ban’s first year here was my last year, so I had no idea he’d leave his position. Chip at the time said that he wasn’t going anywhere.”

“Honestly, people (teachers) who go to Illinois, its hard for them to come back because of financial reasons. They can pay a lot more there. Its a lifestyle change. Financially, some people will never come back. In fact, I’m sure some of the people I used to know here are going to ask me, ‘What am I doing coming back?'”

But Enright, a graduate of Morton and a Hammond police detective for 12 years before he first came to CPHS, seems to be walking into a tailor-made situation. He knows all about Crown Point, right down to the names of a lot of the boys on the roster.

“That’s what I told them (the team). I recognize some of your names. Last time I saw you you were in seventh and eighth grade. But now you’ve grown up and we’re going to work it again.”

“For me, it feels really good. Obviously because my past here was good. It's not just about being football coach. I have a great support system here now that Chip is principal. All the hours we spent together. The relationship we have. His values are my values. This is a great opportunity. I’m kinda humbled. I didn’t have to think about it. Of course, I’d come back.”

Enright’s job in the building at CPHS will not be the same one he left.

“I was a social studies teacher. Government. US History,” he explained. “Now I’ll be Dean of Students. Dean of Students means something different at different schools. At most schools, it's discipline and attendance.”

“Here at Crown Point. You’ll deal with discipline. Attendance issues. But you’ll also deal with school improvement issues.“

Enright sees his present home (until June 1) and his new school as similiar.

“There aren’t too many differences between Homewood-Flossmoor and Crown Point,” he says. “They (H-F) have a couple of hundred more students. The expectations are high academically and athletically. You are expected to perform at a very high level.”

CP’s present defensive coordinator is long time CPHS assistant coach Sean Granger, who took Enright’s job after he left for Illinois. Enright confirmed that Granger will still be the defensive coordinator moving ahead.

“Been there, done that,” he said Monday. “I’m going to be trying to fill the void that Chip left. No one’s going to fill that. But we’re going to work hard and get it done. We’ve always stayed in contact, Sean and I. If something is not going right on a Friday night, I’ll have a great idea why it's not. He may already know what I’m thinking.”

The goal for Crown Point football remains to reach the state title game. It's still that bright shining light on top of the hill. Hidden in all of CP’s team athletic success (state titles in wrestling and soccer in the last four years) in recent years is the fact that Crown Point is one of the few large Indiana schools where the boys have never reached a state championship game in the ‘Big-3’ team sports: boys baseball, basketball or football. Never is a long, long time.

“That’s what I told the boys when I talked with them,” Enright said Monday. “If you compete, you always want to get to that final game. The final game is Thanksgiving weekend in November and that’s what we’re going for.”

“We want to win conference. We want to win the sectional. I get all that. But you want to go to the big game. That’s the goal. At H-F, we’ve competed at a high level. We were in the final four a couple of years ago. And we were in the final eight last year just like Crown Point was. The 8A state champ came from our conference (Bolingbrook) so I’ve seen what it takes. Coaching in Indiana most of my life, it was all about going through Penn if you’re 5A. But, hey, we can play with Penn. It's not like we we’re fortunate to be there. And that’s a credit to the guys who are coaching here. That was Chip Pettit’s leadership.”

Now the leadership mantle falls to Enright, who doesn’t see much change in him being the head football coach for the first time in the town where he lives.

“I grew up in Hammond,” he said, “and I moved to Crown Point in 2000. So I’ve been here 12 years. It might be a little different in this role and that’s fine. That’s good for me and good for the community.”

FOOTBALL NOTES: New CP coach Kevin Enright says that he has mixed emotions about the Illinois state tournament playoff format, which requires the top 32 teams to qualify in eight Classes. Homewood-Flossmoor, where he’s been the defensive coordinator the past three seasons, was an 8A school in an eight class playoff system. But you had to win to qualify for the playoffs. If you were not in the top 32 in your class, you were ineligible for the state tourney.

“Illinois has some things right,” he said. “But on a personal level, I, as a coach, want to win them all. Over there if a school isn’t going to make the playoffs, the competition isn’t there.”

“But if I had to look at both systems, I wish Indiana would seed the sectional. That’s the only thing I’d change. Indiana starts a week earlier than Illinois.”

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Crown Point High School Football
from CPHS football web site - Varsity coaching history

CHIP PETTIT (2001-2011) 123-51-0 (58.5%)
DAVE EGOFSKE (1994-2000) 26-45-0 (36.6%)
BRAD SMITH (1978-1993) 100-67-0 (59.9%)
CARL CREEKMORE (1976-1977) 8-12-0 (40%)
MIKE DEAL (1975) 6-4-0 (60%)
LARRY POHLMAN (1972-1974) 14-16-0 (46.7%)
DAVE SCHAEFFER (1963-1971) 32-47-5 (38.1%)
JAMES CARTER (1954-1963) 46-40-1 (52.9%)
GARRET DE BAUM (1952-1953) 6-11-2 (31.6%)
JOE BLACK (1951) 3-6-0 (33.3%)
MALCOLM RUBY (1944-1945) 3-13-0 (18.8%)
CARL CARNAHAN (1942-43) (1946-1950)
30-29-4 (47.6%)
HENRY ORNER (1940-1941) 9-8-0 (52.9%)
EARL FERRIS (1937-1939) 8-15-1 (33.3%)
PAUL CHURCH (1933-1936) 6-23-1 (20.7%)
AMOS MAHAN (1931-1932) 6-9-0 (40%)
TOTALS: (1931-2001) 375-396-14 (47.8%)