Sandburg is looking for a football coach following Troy McAllister’s departure after four years to take over at Homewood-Flossmoor.
H-F, like Sandburg a member of the Southwest Valley Conference for football, announced McAllister’s hiring as football coach and physical education teacher on Jan. 21.
McAllister was 19-20 in four seasons at Sandburg with three IHSA playoff berths. The Eagles ended a six-year postseason drought in his first season, finishing 5-5.
After going 3-6 in 2022, Sandburg again reached the playoffs the past two seasons, finishing 6-4 and 5-5.
“I has a wonderful experience at Sandburg,” McAllister told The Regional News. “I thought we did a really good job of increasing the numbers significantly in the program, getting more buy-in and fixing the relationship with the youth football program. …
“It was not an easy decision. It was really difficult.”
The Eagles had one of their biggest wins in recent memory in 2021, when they knocked off perennial power Lincoln-Way East 30-27 in Week 6 to start a four-game winning streak.
“That first year, we were really struggling,” McAllister said. “Got running-clocked by Lockport the week before (ahead of the Lincoln-Way East win).”
It wasn’t the first time McAllister turned around a program and picked up a signature win.
He came to Sandburg from Phillips, where he won the first two — and still the only two — state titles in Public League football history.
McAllister was 94-28 in 11 seasons at Phillips with eight playoff berths (the IHSA canceled the postseason in 2020), two state titles and a runner-up finish. From 2013 to ’19, the Wildcats reached the state quarterfinals or beyond for seven straight seasons.
Now he heads to H-F, which has missed the state playoffs the past two seasons, finishing 4-5 each year.
“The facilities, the resources, the support of the district, the administration — those are all plusses,” McAllister said. “For me and my family, it was the best decision.”