Shoenberger Performed in the Shadows at Cal Lutheran

Item: Bob Knight coached his Indiana Hoosiers to the NCAA title last Monday.

If you’ve been conscious at any time during the past week, you probably already knew that.

Item: Al Schoenberger resigned from the head baseball coaching job at Cal Lutheran University on Tuesday.

Unless you live in the Thousand Oaks area, have a kid playing for CLU or just happen to be a real baseball nut, you probably not only didn’t know Schoenberger had resigned, but didn’t know he had the job in the first place.

There is no parallel between these two men other than job title. One is the subject of a current best-seller, “A Season On the Brink.” The other has spent every season on the brink.

But each represents a side of the same coin, one residing in the national spotlight, the other on the dark side.

No surprise. One coaches in a high-profile sport at a major university, the other in a lesser sport at a tiny private college. As a result, one has a big budget, the other has had to fight for every penny.

The fight finally went out of Schoenberger after 14 years on the CLU staff, six as an assistant coach before he took the head coaching job.

“It’s time to move on,” Schoenberger said. “I’m tired. I’ve lost that spark. It’s tough to do the coaching, to recruit and to also do the fund-raising.”

In addition, Schoenberger had another responsibility to worry about--his job . Not his coaching position at CLU. That was only his part-time job, you see. No, Schoenberger needed a regular job to support his wife and four kids. He worked for a mortgage company.

And when he wasn’t doing that, he worked as a security guard at CLU on the all-night shift. He’d get off duty, take a shower, grab some breakfast, trade in his guard’s uniform for a baseball uniform and head back to the campus. There were times when he’d go 30 hours without sleep.

“You do that for four or five years and it takes its toll,” he said. “When you’re young, you’re willing to make those sacrifices. But I’m 52 years old. I look where I want to be 10 years down the road and I’m just not going to get there doing this.”

Schoenberger is not blaming the college for his personal struggles. He does not have a teaching credential, a situation that locked him out of a full-time position.

All things considered, Schoenberger estimates his CLU salary at about 20 cents an hour. He earned every penny.

CLU has made the NAIA District III playoffs every year of the Schoenberger era, reaching the championship game four times and losing all four. He has produced six All-Americans, nine players who have played professional ball and one--Philadelphia pitcher Kevin Gross--who has made it to the majors.

With the help of Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson, a longtime Thousand Oaks resident, Schoenberger has raised more than $100,000 for the CLU baseball program.

Ironically, he has chosen to quit at a time when the college seems committed to building a bigger, richer athletic program. Crespi High football Coach Bill Redell recently was hired to bring in enough money to ease the load on people such as Schoenberger.

So why leave now?

“I don’t have the time left in my life to kick back and see how it’s all going to develop,” Schoenberger said. “Enough sacrifices have been made. I’m burned out. It’s time.”

Schoenberger is not looking for sympathy. He’ll stay until the end of this season, then take a job in the financial community or, perhaps, coaching or scouting in professional ball.

He has no regrets and he’ll probably be embarrassed when he reads this column, embarrassed that such a big deal was made.

But there’s also a point to be made. It’s not all glamour and national TV for collegiate coaches. Being Bob Knight is one thing. Being stuck on campus all night as a security guard is another.

For every Bob Knight, there are a hundred Al Schoenbergers. They’re not national heroes, knights in shining armor. Most people don’t even appreciate them.

Until it comes time to replace one.