Elk Grove High School softball coach Ken Grams is just 1 win away from becoming the most successful high school softball coach in Illinois history.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (WLS) — A northwest suburban softball coach is making history.

Ken Grams is on the verge of making history as the winningest high school softball coach in Illinois, all achieved while leading the Elk Grove High School team.

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Grams is on the cusp of history Monday evening.

But school administrators and his players say Grams, himself, is living, breathing history.

“Right now, I’m sitting at 1,044,” Grams said.

Now in his 44th season coaching, Grams is just one win away from securing the top spot on the list of all-time winning coaches. Accumulating such a remarkable number of victories undoubtedly requires decades of dedication and hard work.

Reflecting on his longevity in the sport, Grams humorously commented, “I guess they know how old I am. I never told them. I’m a little embarrassed about that, but I’m not embarrassed. I’m glad I’m still doing this, for goodness sake, at my age.”

Principal Paul Kelly has been at Elk Grove for 12 years, just a fraction of Coach Grams’ tenure, which actually goes back to when the school opened in 1966.

Grams has been the school’s public address announcer for the football team that entire time: never missing a game.

“If there was a Mount Rushmore of Elk Grove High School, it would be Ken Grams alone. He would be the only one on it,” Kelly said.

Administrators, teachers and students have come and gone, but Grams has always been there. When he started, he was much closer in age to his players. And yet, despite a now-significant age gap, his message still resonates.

“He’s very full of wisdom. Put it that way. He’s an amazing guy. You can talk to him about anything,” senior Aliya Garcia said.

“He’s like my Grandpa. He’s like, he’s so sweet,” junior Kaitlin Wirtz said.

“I feel like that’s why we all respect him so much, is like, has seen it all,” senior Hannah Kugelberg said.

Respect, though, Grams says, is a two-way street.

“I’m just not one of those, ‘Hey, you get off my lawn,’ kind of guys. I think that helps,” Grams said.

And while his players are focused on securing that record Monday night, Grams would rather focus on the relationships he’s built along the way.

“People ask me, ‘Have the kids changed?’ No, they really haven’t. They have different interests. As you know, the world has changed a little bit, but they’re the same kids that were here, you know, 50 years ago. They really are,” Grams said.

When asked how long he plans to keep coaching, he said as long as he can keep up physically and still relate to his players he’ll be there.