‘It just lined up perfectly’: Barnes’ vision for winning matches Pittsfield football program’s desire for success

PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Dalton Barnes could sympathize with what the Pittsfield community was enduring.

In turn, the Saukees empathize with what Barnes and his family were going through.

In the wake of the tragic auto accident that took the life of Pittsfield freshman basketball standout Reese Ramsey and hospitalized two of her teammates, Barnes and his wife, Lauren, lost a nephew to a battle with HLHS. The emotional toll it took on his family made Barnes rescind his interest in the Pittsfield head football coaching position.

“I actually told the Pittsfield administration if I’m going to be about family I’m going to have to stick to my guns,” said Barnes, who had done an initial interview and was invited for a second sit down. “So I told them it wasn’t a good time to pursue it.”

So the Pittsfield administration waited and revisited the idea with Barnes a few weeks later.

“We had time to process and settle back in,” Barnes said.

So he returned to Pittsfield for a second interview, while his wife came with him and had the opportunity to see what the Pike County hamlet had to offer.

“I didn’t say a word after the second interview and she got in the car and she said, ‘This place is awesome,’” Barnes said. “It just lined up on God’s time. It’s not cliche to say that because I truly believe that. He works in mysterious ways, and it’s where He led me.”

What seems meant to be officially has happened.

Barnes was recently named the Saukees’ next football coach, his wife was offered an elementary school teaching position and the family will be moving to Pike County at the end of the school year.

“It’s always been the dream for my wife and I to teach in the same district and our kids go to school in a district that is super supportive,” Barnes said. “I’m a small town kid. We always had that dream to settle down in a community we can call home.”

A native of Girard, Ill., Barnes spent two seasons as the head coach at Gillespie during the 2022 and ’23 seasons. He resigned after going 1-17 and did not work as a head coach last fall. However, he has a history of success, having worked on the staffs at both Pleasant Plains and Williamsville.

That gives him first-hand knowledge of what the Saukees must do to compete in the Sangamo Conference.

“What Pittsfield has that some of those areas that have struggled don’t have is those people with a vision,” Barnes said. “If you haven’t seen it, if you haven’t had a taste of it before, it’s hard to get back to it because you don’t know what you’re looking for.

“That’s what is so cool about this opportunity. They know where they want to go and I know where I want to go, and it just lined up perfectly.”

The Saukees went 4-5 last fall and have endured 15 consecutive losing seasons. Zach Ferguson had more success than any coach during that stretch, going 12-24 the past four seasons, but he was not rehired by a 4-3 vote of the Pikeland School Board at the end of last season.

Barnes’ challenge will be to take some of the foundation pieces Ferguson created and build upon them and enhance them.

“I have great respect for Coach Ferguson and the staff and what they were able to accomplish last season,” said Barnes, noting the Saukees went 4-4 in the Sangamo for their best conference record since joining the league. “You can tell Pittsfield is very hungry for a structured program and building something that’s going to be special for years to come.”