Apr. 10—MAHOMET — Frank Dutton didn’t cast a shadow over Tom Shallenberger when Shallenberger succeeded him as Mahomet-Seymour’s football coach in 1992.
Dutton wasn’t the type to keep the spotlight on himself after 21 years at the helm of the program. He knew Shallenberger, an offensive tackle on the Bulldogs’ 1977 state championship team, would handle the job on his own.
“When he decided to retire, he wasn’t the kind of guy that was going to check things out,” Shallenberger said. “He wanted me to be able to do the things that I wanted to do. I know he was proud of me.”
Dutton, a widely respected coach, teacher and community fixture, passed away Monday at the age of 79.
Current Bulldogs football coach Jon Adkins remembers Dutton as being about more than wins and losses. His former players agree.
“He cared about his players,” Shallenberger said. “He had certain standards he expected all the players to have and he didn’t deviate from that. … He was just a total class act, and he did things all the right way. There’s a lot of sad Bulldogs right now.”
Dutton coached the Bulldogs from 1971-1991 and amassed a 128-76 record, including eight playoff appearances and a Class 2A state championship in 1977. He was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1994.
“I always found him to be very welcoming,” Mahomet-Seymour athletic director Matt Hensley said. “He was an important part of the Mahomet community, an important part of the history of Mahomet-Seymour high school football.”
Mahomet-Seymour’s football field is named in honor of Dutton, who remains the only person to coach a Champaign County school to an IHSA football state championship when the Bulldogs capped their special 1977 season with a 19-0 win against Stockton in the state title game at Hancock Stadium on the Illinois State…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/former-mahomet-seymour-football-coach-145000125.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-04-10 14:50:00
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