Dante Culbreath has stepped down as head football coach at Simeon. Culbreath, a star player for the Wolverines in the late 90s, coached the team for the past 13 seasons.
“I’ve been talking about stepping away for a few years now,” Culbreath said. “It was time to pass the torch. I’ve had some personal and health issues and I want to focus on that, as well as my daughter.”
Culbreath’s daughter is starting school at Young this year. She’s a volleyball player.
“She was born on Oct. 31 and we had a state playoff game that day,” Culbreath said. “So I’ve been pretty much focused on football since she was born. I want to be a great dad now. I’m excited to be able to just take her to stuff and be around more.”
Culbreath was 114-37 as head coach and he led the Wolverines to the state playoffs in every season. Simeon finished 10-1 last year and advanced to the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs.
Under Culbreath, the Wolverines were consistently one of the best teams in the Public League. His 2014-15 squad finished 11-2 and advanced to the Class 8A state semifinals. Culbreath guided the 2018-19 Wolverines to an 11-1 record and the Class 7A state quarterfinals.
That’s the most consistent success any Public League school has achieved in the large classes of the IHSA state playoffs. Roy Curry guided Robeson to the Class 5A championship game in 1982. At that point, there were just six classes in football.
Culbreath is handing the reins over to Derrick Hunter Sr., his defensive coordinator. Hunter will be taking over as head coach just for this season.
“I’m ok with that,” Hunter said. “Simeon likes to have an alum as head coach and I understand that. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to keep things just like it is for the kids.”
Hunter, a 1977 graduate of King, played football at Western Michigan and enjoyed a distinguished career with the Chicago Fire Department. He’s a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Hunter was the head coach at King for six seasons and was a longtime assistant at Dunbar.
Simeon lost stars Andre Crews and Malik Elzy to graduation, but quarterback Keshaun Parker returns as well as highly-regarded defensive linemen Christopher Burgess and Mikeshun Beeler. Running back Te’Shon McGee has transferred in from Brother Rice.
“Chris and Mike are five-star players and kids,” Hunter said. “They are self motivated, those are two very special kids. I’ve been coaching since 1991 and they really stand out.”
