Sangamon Sun

Ken Leonard is calling on coaches, parents and students to rally against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order disallowing football this fall.  

Leonard, the winningest coach in Illinois football history, has been a coach for 42 years of which the 36 years have been at Sacred Heart Griffin where he is also athletic director.

Pritzker announced yesterday that football season was cancelled.

The move came right after the Illinois High School Association asked to resume authority over the athletic schedule.

By executive order Pritzker has been controlling large swathes of the state that previously had independent oversight, such as the ISHA.

“The governor and the state has taken over a lot of, as far as regulations and control what the all know Illinois High School Association can do and we just want a chance,” Leonard said in an interview with on Chicago's Morning Answer. “Our deal is talking with all the coaches throughout the state and all the sports we want more than what we have now. And we know we're not going to get as much as we've had in the past and we know this is an event that nobody could foresee.”

All states bordering Illinois - Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin - are allowing football to go on.

“Why is it safe for their kids to play and it’s not safe for us?” Leonard said. “And we do not trust us as adults to make good decisions as far as and when we're in contact.”

The communities in border areas in some cases can see the lights of stadiums right across the state border on Friday nights.

Leonard said the immediacy of the situation hit him two weeks ago he went to a game in Indianapolis.

“There were almost 450 kids participating that night in the band and cheerleaders in the pit,” Leonard said. “And it almost made me sick….being there. I got coach friends on both sides of that and it was it was great to watch them go in the locker room after words and just see the happiness, you know, and just watch a Friday night game.”

In pointing out the contrast, Leonard and other coaches throughout the state, such as his son Derek, are leading their communities in rallies for sports and are also coordinating call in campaigns to legislative offices in the statehouse.

“We want on everybody to reach out to all their legislators in the next few days,” Leonard said.

Many top recruits have opted to transfer out of state in order to continue playing rather than be governed by uncertainty on whether they will be allowed to play any type of season.

Citing statistics on mental health incidents during the pandemic and increased suicide and crime rates, Leonard said he and other coaches across the state leading efforts to engage the community are not motivated by politics, but for a love of their communities.  

“You gotta stand up and that's what we're doing,” Leonard said.