The Crown jewel
After Kevin Enright’s resignation, Bulldogs football could make history with the right coaching hire
There have been good football coaches in Crown Point’s history, but not many.
Kevin Enright, who was asked to resign last month after nine seasons, had his moments. He won sectionals in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Enright finished with a record of 51-45 at Crown Point, according to indianahsfootball.homestead.com. That’s a .531 winning percentage, seventh-best among the 17 Crown Point coaches listed on the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s website.
The most successful coach in Crown Point history is Brad Smith.
Smith is an Indiana Football Hall of Fame inductee who had coaching stints at Crown Point, Highland and Attica. He finished with a 100-67 record in 16 seasons at Crown Point, according to the IFCA’s website. The Bulldogs were part of the nowdefunct Lake Suburban Conference for all but his last two seasons, when the program moved to the Duneland Athletic Conference.
Smith led Crown Point to its only regional title in 1988. His teams finished 10-1 in both 1984 and 1987 and won two sectionals.
When Smith took over, it wasn’t easy. He was their fourth coach in five years.
It was a graveyard for coaches.
“I was only 27 years old,” he said. “I was the only guy dumb enough to take the position. No one was having success.”
It took time. But after four losing seasons in his first five years, Smith finished with a flourish. He had winning records in nine of his next 11 years.
The team played downtown at the old high school. Friday night games there were a big event.
Smith worked hard at developing relationships with the kids, and he was able to get the best athletes out for football — something that wasn’t always true before he arrived.
“We had trouble early with some coaches in other sports who didn’t want their kids to play football,” he said. “I always wanted the kids to play as many sports as they could.”
Smith said Crown Point was an “exciting place to be in the ‘80s and ‘90s. We had a great community. Everybody pulled together.”
Dave Egofske followed Smith. He finished 27-44 in seven seasons, according to indianahsfootball.homestead.com. Egofske’s tenure ended after an 0-10 season in 2000.
Egofske didn’t build on what Smith started. Chip Pettit did.
Pettit finished 72-51 in 11 seasons, according to indianahsfootball.homestead.com. His .585 winning percentage is just behind Smith’s .599. The Bulldogs won sectionals in 2006 and 2011. Pettit left the program in good shape.
Why is this relevant?
Because unlike when Smith took over, the Crown Point job has a reservoir of untapped potential that makes it a great opportunity for an established coach. It’s the Class 6A school that could set the bar in Northwest Indiana with the right coach.
In 1993, when Smith left, the school had 1,664 students, according to SchoolDigger.com. That number has nearly doubled. Crown Point had 2,874 students in the enrollment figures released in 2019. Only Lake Central is bigger in Northwest Indiana. Crown Point is one of the few school systems in the Region still growing.
Unlike Lake Central, which has Dyer, Schererville and St. John feeding into it, Crown Point is a bedroom community.
Football is a money sport, and Crown Point is affluent, with a median household income of just under $77,000 in 2019, according to the U.S. census.
The Bulldogs have a relatively new football field. The school building opened in August 2003. Both the baseball and basketball programs are flourishing.
Crown Point Mayor Dave Uran, a basketball official, has ushered in a booming era of youth sports, which includes the Sportsplex, a sprawling event center that includes infrastructure to host football and baseball games and soccer and lacrosse matches.
The city is all about sports. The school reportedly started interviewing candidates for the vacant football coaching position in the past week.
Two words of advice for the administration: Don’t settle.
This isn’t the same job that Smith took in 1978 or even Pettit took in 2001.
The right hire could build a Hall of Fame career turning Crown Point into a program that regularly wins sectionals and regionals.