Waubonsie Valley names Tom Baumgartner 4th head coach in program history

Waubonsie Valley could not have found anyone more ingrained into its football program than Tom Baumgartner to take over as head coach.

Baumgartner played for former Warriors coach B.J. Luke. He coached during all of former coach Paul Murphy’s 15 seasons.

“He’s been around here. He’s a Warrior, true and true,” Waubonsie Valley athletic director Chris Neibch said. “He just has such a passion for this place.”

Baumgartner, 37 and a 2000 Waubonsie Valley graduate, was officially hired this week for his dream job, taking over for the retiring Murphy. Baumgartner worked as the freshman and sophomore head coach, and as varsity assistant in recent seasons with Murphy.

“It’s incredibly humbling,” Baumgartner said. “I knew whoever it was going to be would be the fourth head coach in the program’s history. That speaks to the success that everybody before me has had. I’m incredibly proud to represent our school and Warrior Nation.”

Waubonsie Valley opened in the fall of 1975 with Matt Laurich as coach for its first 13 years. Luke coached the next 17 and Murphy coached the last 15.

Baumgartner played safety as a junior at Waubonsie Valley, then outside linebacker as a senior. He played baseball at NCAA Division III Benedictine University in Lisle, then was hired to teach social studies at his alma mater.

“About two years in, I went from freshman B coordinator to freshman head coach and I was like, ‘OK, this is what I want to do,’” Baumgartner said. “You keep working, keep your head down and keep working for Murph as long as he was going to be here. Just be patient.”

Baumgartner applied for another head coaching job in 2015 and made it to the final three but did not get the job.

“My wife (Mia) and I sat down, our son (Jack) was 2 and our daughter (Ali) was on the way,” Baumgartner said. “We said. ‘Let’s ride this out. Let’s see what we can do at Waubonsie.’ ”

Neibch had seen Baumgartner in action plenty and said he was impressive during the interview process.

“He just showed us he’s our guy,” Neibch said. “We’re really excited about him leading our group of young men. Paul (Murphy) did a great job in his tenure of being there for individuals that want to be a head coach. Tom’s made it quite known he wanted to be a head coach. Paul’s given him opportunities to get some experience in those areas for sure.”

Baumgartner got a taste with running the Warriors’ spring 7-on-7 camps and the Junior Warrior Camp in the summer. He said Murphy thought he would be a good head coaching candidate.

Baumgartner embraces playing in the DuPage Valley Conference, which is regarded as one of the top football leagues in the state. He aims at first fostering a program that creates great people.

“That’s going to be No. 1 for everybody in our program,” Baumgartner said. “If our kids leave our program as better people than they were when they came in as freshmen, to me, that’s really how you judge a quality program.”

Baumgartner plans to set academic goals, with a team GPA to be met every semester. His third goal is winning football games.

“When you’re playing in the DVC, you better bring it every week,” Baumgartner said. “Our nonconference schedule is dynamite every year. I want to play the best teams and give our kids the best opportunity to be challenged.”