Two former Routt football coaches are a part of the 2020 Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame class.
Jeff Alderman got his first head coaching job at Jacksonville Routt in 1989, where he was also the head baseball coach and athletic director. He stayed at Routt for two seasons before going to Piasa Southwestern for five seasons, Dunlap for 10 seasons and Alton for three seasons. He has a 104-92 career coaching record in 20 seasons, with 11 playoff berths, according to statistics provided by the State Journal Register. He also won the Ray Eliot Award from the IHSFCA for meritorious service in 2017. He retired as Alton’s athletic director at the end of last school year.
The late Larry Pacotti, who passed away from cancer at just 33 years old, went 32-3-2 at Routt from 1970-73. Two former head coaches in the area Former Routt coach Dan Bowman and Chatham-Glenwood coach Dan Rourke were players for Pacotti. Pacotti left for North Greene where he coached for two full seasons. He passed away from cancer in 1977. He finished with a 36-20-2 record in seven seasons.
The induction ceremony is scheduled Saturday, March 28th at noon, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. Illinois football coach Lovie Smith is the guest speaker.