Who should become the next Burlington football head coach?

Plenty of candidates have city ties

Two months ago, I sat at this very desk and tried to break down the recent struggles of the Burlington football program.

Lack of offseason training and offensive inconsistency doomed the Demons in 2013, and a promising 3-0 start quickly went downhill.

Before things could be salvaged, the Demons suffered yet another 4-5 season and missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years.

I concluded that change, big or small, needed to happen. Little did I know that an enormous change was already in the works.

Hans Block, who coached the team for the past 12 seasons, posted a 59-56 record and advanced to the playoffs four times. But he said he may have lost his team at the end of last season, and the proud leader ran out of solutions. He stepped down last month in somewhat of a surprising move considering Block has been on the coaching staff since the 1990s.

Block said he decided it was time right after the season.

“I’m not pleased with the results of that,” Block said in reference to the four playoff appearances in 12 years. “I’ve been working hard. I’m not sure I can give much more, and I don’t like the results we’re getting.”

“In this situation, I don’t know what else I can do.”

The school announced it would be looking for applicants from both within the school district and outside of it, though it did not set an immediate timeline for a hiring. At press time, several people have already applied.

A once-untouchable Southern Lakes Conference force that dominated the 1990s has barely been able to compete in the “new” SLC since returning from the Southeast Conference in 2009.

In five seasons, the Demons have been slightly below average, with three 4-5 seasons, a 3-6 campaign and a 6-2 record, which yielded a playoff berth in 2012.

The conference has caught up big time, with Waterford, Wilmot and Lake Geneva Badger now powerhouses after being crushed repeatedly by Burlington back in the day. Even Delavan-Darien and Elkhorn are solid year in and year out.

Though Westosha Central and Union Grove are struggling, new facilities and coaches could have them up to speed sooner than later.

The Demons have the talent, and several promising players return for their senior seasons next year. While several players complained that not enough guys got in the weight room preceding the 2013 season, a core of dedicated seniors have already, in January, been playing football together and lifting and running a couple times per week.

Juniors like Hunter Melby, Brian Dankle, Skyler Van Dusseldorp and others are lifting, running and working on passing routes a couple times per week to build team chemistry. And offseason lifting programs are becoming mandatory for BHS athletes.

These players and the school are taking the first steps, and ultimately it’s on the players to get the job done on the field.

But the right coach can make all the difference. A genius play-caller can make scoring fun. A fun, energetic motivator can turn a 300-pound, overweight non-athlete into a ripped, 275-pound nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

Kids need a fearless leader they can relate to, and everyone needs to be on the same page. Block did his best with what he had, and I know it killed him to see an unsuccessful product Friday nights. The man bleeds orange and black, and he will never stop helping the athletic program. You can bet on that.

But come August, the Demons will have a new head man, and he will only have one month to install an entirely new system and philosophy. He will somehow have to take around 100 prospective athletes, get them on the same page and earn their trust simultaneously.

Not an easy task. I know I couldn’t do it.

Let’s throw all logic and rationale out the window with this column and have some fun. It’s time to explore the “what if” factor.

Here are some legit candidates to take over as head coach, and there will also be some “dream” hires who have about a 1 percent chance of joining the Demons.

Steve Tenhagen

This is my first candidate in the “dream” category.

An offensive specialist, the 1997 Burlington High School graduate is currently the head coach at Delavan-Darien.

Tenhagen was Tony Romo’s top target back in 1997, and the 6-foot-4 physical wide receiver went on to have a solid career at Division 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Tenhagen turned the Comets into offensive juggernauts, utilizing a “new-age” high school style of pass-first football. In 2010, he led the Comets to the conference championship, something Burlington hasn’t captured since the 1990s.

In 2013, Tenhagen, who comes back to BHS every summer to help at the Tony Romo Football Camp, helped lead the Comets to a close victory over visiting Burlington.

With quarterback Brad Burling and wideouts Dankle, Van Dusseldorp and James Tully all back next season, Tenhagen, whose Comets averaged 30.6 points per game last season, would turn the Demons into aerial machines.

Steve Berezowitz

This is one that probably falls under dream hire, but it could happen.

Coach Berez has become one of the best and most respected basketball coaches in the state over the past three decades for the Demons.

But his roots are also in football. His dad was a football coaching legend at UW-Whitewater and was the first Warhawks coach to get the team to the Stagg Bowl, a common destination now.

Also, Steve was a talented quarterback at the high school and collegiate levels.

When I brought up the possibility to him, kind of as a joke, he confirmed what I figured. It would require way too much of a time commitment to coach both the basketball and football teams and have time for the kids at home.

I had Steve as a quarterbacks coach in high school, and the man knows offense, especially quarterback play. The one year he was my head coach, even though it was the sophomore team, we were 6-3.

In the SEC. Playing teams like Oak Creek and Kenosha Bradford. Our offense was that good.

So don’t take this too seriously, Steve, but simply step aside on the court and start a new legacy on the gridiron. The football program needs you.

Eric Sulik

The current East Troy football coach, Sulik taught in Burlington from 1999 to 2007. He is a former assistant coach with the Demons.

After some lean years in Trojan land, East Troy made the playoffs in 2011 and 2012 thanks to an explosive passing attack. Brandon Matz was one of the best passers in the state the last few seasons, and bringing in Sulik could erase the “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality that the Demons used for so many years.

An offensive mind, Sulik also gets players in the weight room and acknowledges that you must beat teams in the offseason if you want to win games during the season.

Brian Horn

Currently a physical education teacher at Burlington High School, Horn was with the football program during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, when the Demons finished a combined 17-6 and advanced to the Division II state semifinals (2005).

A former offensive coordinator under Block, Horn is on the better side of his 30s and would provide a shot of young blood.

He’s already in the district, and this could be another offense-first move.

Come back to the sidelines, Brian.

Mike Greinke

The former Wilmot head coach who just stepped down after last season resurrected the Panthers in his six seasons.

The 37-year-old Greinke guided the Panthers to the WIAA playoffs four times and compiled an overall record of 32-26, including 24-17 in Southern Lakes Conference play. Wilmot won a share of the SLC title in two of the last three seasons with 6-1 records.

Greinke’s resignation coincided with the birth of a baby boy in November. He lives in Oak Creek, so the long drive didn’t help.

He’s taking necessary time out for his family, but, according to the Kenosha News, he said he isn’t against joining a program as an assistant coach and would possibly be a head coach again.

With defensive coordinator roots at both Cudahy and Waterford, Greinke could bring a nastiness to the Demon defense.

Hopefully, the enticing nature of a head coaching job in the same conference can bring him out of “retirement.” He still teaches at Wilmot.

Adam Bakken

It’s a very big stretch.

I know, coaches don’t leave a successful, promising program to join their rivals of all teams, but what if they did?

Bakken, in only three seasons as Waterford head coach, has won at least a share of three straight SLC championships.

A defensive guru, he led the Wolverines to the Division II state championship game in 2011, his first season.

I’ve covered him since his defensive coordinator days at Big Foot High School (he was part of a team that won D4 state in 2009), and the guy is intense.

If nothing else, he would bring a passion and a fire that the program hasn’t seen in some time.

It’s not going to happen, but you never know.

Brett Favre

Take a second to stop laughing. This is for entertainment purposes only.

But wouldn’t ‘ol Ironman look good in orange and black?

Favre is currently an assistant coach for a Mississippi high school football team that recently won the state championship.

He isn’t exactly completely forgiven by us die-hard Green Bay Packers fans for Retirement Gate ’08, so what better way to get back in the good graces of the green and gold than to come back to cheese land and lead a Wisconsin team to a state title?

Of course, Favre wouldn’t be allowed cell phone access. And there would be no press conferences and no crying.

But wouldn’t it be fun to have him as head coach? It’s a win-win. If the Demons win, he’s a hero and his Packers jersey is retired.

If the Demons lose, Favre’s number is still retired and we can continue making fun of him.

In the end, it wouldn’t work out. The coaching staff would be forced to follow a strict dress code of Wrangler jeans.