It’s his turn now, and Mike Kuefler can’t wait.
“I feel pretty fortunate I get to continue to coach here,” Kuefler said this week after he was approved by the school board as varsity softball coach at Kaneland.
“I’ve always wanted my own program. I’ve been coaching a long time and it’s pretty special that I can continue.”
Kuefler doesn’t teach at the school. He works as a master tradesman for the Kane Country Forest Preserve District, but he’s been the Knights’ varsity assistant for the past five years, working with former coach Brian Willis for four seasons and interim coach Peter Goff this past season.
He also has coached travel baseball or softball for 28 years as well as offered one-on-one catching instruction in both sports for the past 27 years through his side business, Fundamental Backstop.
“The thing abut Mike is he really knows the game of softball, every little idiosyncrasy and what it takes to make a team successful,” said Goff, who is also the school’s athletic director and recommended Kuefler for the job.
Together, they helped lead the Knights to a 25-9 record and a third-place finish in Class 3A.
“We fed off each other very well,” Goff said. “I learned a lot about softball and he learned about different aspects of coaching. I knew after the first week I wanted him to be the next coach.
“His passion and how great a person he is, that’s what I saw in him.”
Kuefler’s daughter Paige was the team’s catcher and a varsity starter the past four years, but she has graduated and is moving on to play in college at Lindenwood University, an NAIA school in Belleville.
“I started out coaching baseball in Naperville before we moved out here,” said Kuefler, who played baseball, football and wrestled at Naperville North High School. “I was one of the founding members of the Elburn Express travel baseball program.
“A lot of our boys were part of the (Kaneland) state championship team (in 2011). It was great to see them develop and advance. When Paige began playing, I jumped over to softball (coaching for Kane County Xplosion).”
Working with catchers was a natural since it was his position as a player.
“I train catchers,” he said. “A lot of people work as hitting instructors or pitching instructors. I just started this and have been doing it for 27 years. We’ll begin in November and go to the end of February and do one-hour sessions each week.”
As for next year’s Knights, Kuefler is optimistic despite losing pitcher and Wisconsin recruit Angie Morrow to graduation along with his daughter.
“We’ll miss Angie and P.K., but we’ll still be very competitive,” he said. “It’s a great group of girls, and they’re all hungry after getting a taste of (state) and want to do it again.”
Twitter: @RickArmstrong28
