Prairie Ridge’s Chris Schremp steps down as coach, looking for AD position

Back in 2002, Prairie Ridge hired its young offensive coordinator to head its 5-year-old program that former coach Dave Whitson already had taken to the playoffs three times.

The administration liked Chris Schremp’s knowledge and energy, but no one knew what would happen over the next 22 years.

Schremp took the Wolves to the top, turned them in to a Class 6A state power that was a threat to win a state title most seasons.

On Monday, Schremp surprised his players when he told them he was resigning as coach and hoped to become the District 155 school’s next athletic director. Prairie Ridge AD Mark Gilbert is retiring at the end of this school year and Schremp, who has been one of Gilbert’s assistants since the 2013-14 school year when he became AD, will apply for the job.

“I told them yesterday that you hope you can do a job that you want, and do it for as long as you want, and if you change, it’s because you want that change to happen,” Schremp said. “I’m looking for a new challenge, and that challenge is being an athletic director. I enjoy high school sports. It’s more than just the love of football. I enjoy going to all the games and being a mentor to coaches is something I really enjoy, and I’m at the point of my career where I can give back more and more and help more coaches and more kids.

“I love coaching football and coaching with the staff that I have. I’m looking at this as a way to do something bigger. The easy thing was just staying as a football coach and teacher for the rest of my career. I don’t think, right now, I’d be satisfied with that.”

Schremp, 51, finishes with a career coaching record of 187-64, a .745 winning percentage, with three Class 6A state championships. The Wolves, who are famous for their triple-option offense, have played in four of the past six Class 6A state title games, winning in 2016 and 2017.

Schremp was named IHSA Coach of the Year in 2017 and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.

While Gilbert and Prairie Ridge administrators were aware Schremp was considering a change, the players were not.

“I was shocked. He said it’s something he’s been wanting to do, and I support whatever coach wants to do,” senior running back-defensive back Dom Creatore said. “The team was really sad when it happened and it was a weird experience, but I know, regardless if Schremp is there or not, our team will still be good.

“I feel grateful and privileged to have had the opportunity to play for the PR program under coach’s direction for the past four years. He had a knack for adjusting to all the roadblocks we faced in any given season and instilling confidence in us to be able to face anything that came our way. He invested in his players to become better on the field and taught us lessons to become great off the field. He has left an indelible impression on me, for sure.”

Prairie Ridge’s season came to an end Saturday with a 35-28 loss to Nazareth in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. That finish, too, was shocking, since the Wolves were ranked No. 1 in Class 5A most of the season, but Nazareth, from the CCL/ESCC played a rugged schedule and is much better than its No. 15 seed.

“Chris means more than state championships, state runners-up and his record speaks for itself, but what Chris means to Prairie Ridge is about a culture and education-based athletics,” Gilbert said. “It’s about teaching kids how to become better young men more so than it’s about football. That’s something I’ve always respected about Chris, and that’s something I think will outpace his legacy through wins and losses.

“The number of people he’s touched, the former players who have come back and former players who stay in contact with him. He has a wide network of alumni who sing his praises for what they learned, not just about football, but about being a good, young man and how to become an adult. That, to me, is the most impressive thing he brings to the table through his program.”

Prairie Ridge missed the playoffs only three times in Schremp’s 22 seasons. The Wolves won their first state championship in 2011, which was the third consecutive year they made the 6A semifinals.

Prairie Ridge lost in the 2015 semifinals to Montini, then beat Sacred Heart-Griffin and Nazareth for back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2016 and 2017. Quarterback Samson Evans, a three-time Northwest Herald Player of the Year, led those teams.

“Just knowing the success PR has always had is something to think about as a freshman coming in,” Creatore said. “You want to build that success, too. All four years were really dedicated to keeping that legacy up to what they had done in the past and keep our name up there.”

Last season, Prairie Ridge quarterback Tyler Vasey set the IHSA season record with 3,878 rushing yards and the Wolves were Class 6A state runners-up to East St. Louis.

The Wolves won their second straight Fox Valley Conference title this season after sharing it with Huntley and Jacobs in 2022.

“The state championships, believe me, those are awesome,” Schremp said. “But already so many former players are finding out about it and calling me and yesterday one of the first calls I got was from Tyler Vasey [now playing at Wisconsin-Whitewater]. That meant the world to me, the relationships that you build with our players.

“And our managers, those girls who had such a great experience. That’s part of my desire to be an athletic director. I see in what I was able to do that I want to help more programs be like that, what our football program was like to so many kids. I think I can help other programs do that.”

Gilbert said Schremp checks a lot of boxes as a potential athletic director.

“He has a lot of the tools that are necessary to be a good athletic director,” Gilbert said. “His passion for Prairie Ridge, his passion for kids and athletics shows through.

“I’ve seen it in his program and in other programs he works with in the winter and spring. He’s definitely been around it long enough to understand what the job is and what it entails. He’s helped me along the way. He’d be a good candidate for the position.”