Ellington coach back where he belongs on sidelines
A peek into Room 179 at the back of Ellington High on Thursday afternoon found Keith Tautkus speaking to his players about the purpose of “we” over “I” and the strength of a determined collective.
“I used to be all about the X’s and O’s,” Tautkus said when he was finished. “Got to learn this drill. Got to learn this blitz. Got to learn this offensive formation. Got to learn all this stuff.
“I still do that, but I try to focus more on how can I help these young men and young women — I have two on the team — be better people? To be better citizens? The football piece will fall into itself. That’s where I’m different from when I first started off. I’ve grown.”
Returning as Ellington’s head football coach after nine years, Tautkus looks around a familiar classroom. This is his place. This is where he teaches Technology
Education. Across the hall, there is a garagetype setup where an old car can be worked on and various trades can be honed. Tautkus shared his passion for car and truck restoration with his son Austin.
“Yeah, this is my domain,” Tautkus said.
He has taught in Ellington for a quarter century. He graduated from Ellington High in 1974. He helped found the school’s football program, now in its 20th varsity season, and built it into a success. He was head baseball coach for 23 years.
He lives in Ellington.
“I haven’t gone very far in my life,” Tautkus said, breaking into a big laugh.
That’s not true. He lived in Arizona. He lived in Texas. He lived in Maryland for a number of years and coached high school there and in Virginia before the Ellington job opened and he moved back.
Tautkus built an 83-42 record. Austin was a star on his last team in 2012 when Ellington-Somers went 9-2 and advanced to the state Class M playoffs.
As a junior Austin was the one who pulled in a fourth-and-17 pass from Brian Ryder that led to the field goal and 10-8 win over Stafford-East Windsor to preserve an undefeated regular season and a Class M appearance.
“I put a lot of work into this program from the beginning,” Tautkus said. “I was the first head coach here. My boys played in the program. Always loved the program.”
The love for a son is even more powerful. When Austin, a three-sport athlete who also played high school baseball for his dad, decided to play football at Western Connecticut in 2013, Tautus stepped down as football coach. He wanted to see Austin play during his college career.
Yes, it may have been during the daily 150-mile round trips from Ellington to Danbury for four football seasons when Keith Tautkus best found how far he has traveled in life. A man can think a lot during those drives.
The family owns a farm in Suffield. They grow corn, hay, vegetables for restaurants. They have cattle. After finishing his freshman year, Austin, who was working his way up the WestConn depth chart, was working on the farm in June 2014. He was coming in for lunch on his Ranger ATV, a Gator-type vehicle.
“Going too fast, rolled it over, it was a freak accident,” Tautkus said. “He was 6-4. I guess he sort of fell out and the vehicle hit him across the neck and broke his neck.
“I happened to be there (at the farm), so someone came and got me. We got his heart pumping again, but there was no response. No brain activity.”
Austin was air-lifted to Hartford Hospital by LifeStar. He died the next day, June 18, 2014. He was 18.
Tautkus’ wife Beth is a long-time middle school teacher in Ellington. Their son, Jason, and daughters Katie and Jennifer … a family, a town, a college football team was left heartbroken. A candlelight vigil flickered in Ellington.
“You cry a lot,” Tautkus said. “You cry a lot and you try to get through it. That’s why football was important at that point. Getting back into coaching, I’m not thinking about myself so much. I’m thinking about others. You start thinking about others and it becomes less painful.”
Amid Tautkus’ grief, Western Connecticut coach Joe Loth called.
“I was not in a great place,” Tautkus said. “Coach Loth said, ‘Look, if you want, come down, come down in August when we start practice.’
“It was very powerful being with those guys and the way they were so supportive. They really liked Austin when he was there. I think it was good for them and, obviously, it was good for me. To see me there every day I think was a boost.”
Tautkus became defensive line coach. One month turned into one year and that turned into four years. Those long 150-mile round trips? They would end up being not to watch his son, but to coach all the players who pushed on.
“I thought I’d just be there and all of a sudden you fall in love with these guys,” Tautkus said. “I couldn’t quit. The only reason I did was because they changed their practice time to the mornings and I’m still teaching. Otherwise, I may still be going there. I’ll always be grateful to Coach Loth.”
Austin Tautkus, you must know, is more than a memory. He is life.
“He was an organ donor, which became a very powerful thing to our family,” Tautkus said. “He did a great job of saving other people’s lives. All his organs were harvested. Even his heart, which had stopped and after we got it going, the heart was fine.
“There was a heart transplant, a liver. We met a couple of the recipients, the lady who got the pancreas was near death and had a couple of young kids of her own. Her life changed because of Austin. It was awfully rewarding for us. It’s one of the things that help us get through that experience.”
Erick Knickerbocker, who played for and coached under Tautkus at Ellington, took the Rockville High head coaching job in 2018. He asked Tautkus if he would help. Rockville turned around in a big way and went 18-5 before the COVID pandemic.
“I had loyalty to Erick, he is more like a son to me than anything else,” Tautkus said. “I also felt bad being in position to coach and coaching at (rival) Rockville when I could be coaching here at my home.
“When Coach (Sean) Byrne decided to step down. I thought it would be an interesting idea to come back. They were having some tough times, build the program up a little and see what we can do.”
Tautkus retired as Ellington baseball coach the year before the pandemic. The time was right.
He isn’t a football guy. He isn’t a baseball guy. He is both.
“Baseball, I think I like coaching a little more,” Tautkus said. “But I love football, too. The game days in football are crazy, the rush you get from a game, all the activity. Baseball can’t compare in that aspect.”
With kids playing football, American Legion baseball and hockey together, Tautkus said Somers and Ellington found success together. Somers has since joined Stafford and East Windsor in its co-op program. Ellington has been on its own since 2015.
The Knights went 30-12 between 2013-2016 after Tautkus left, advancing to a third state playoff. They went 9-21 the three seasons before COVID hit.
When Tautkus took over, the program was down to the low 20s. Coaches went to the middle school. They talked to a lot of kids. Tautkus built some excitement. It remains to be seen how many will stay with it, but 45 have come for the start of workouts. Many are freshmen.
Playing as a sole entity in Class S, the numbers remain a concern. He has only a few returning starters.
“But you know what? Tautkus said. “I think we’ll be pretty good. I’m excited.”
Back where he belongs. Back in Room 179. Back in his domain.