WW South's O'Toole worthy of the position
The expectation is inherent, the glory extreme.
It's a position like few others in Illinois high school sports, but Wheaton Warrenville South senior Reilly O'Toole seemed destined to hold it.
“You learn about the history of the quarterbacks here, and it's just incredible,” he said. “Knowing that those guys played the same position I am is humbling.”
The impressive list of Wheaton Central/WW South quarterbacks is staggering: Jeff Thorne, Tim Lester, Tim Brylka, Jon Beutjer and so many others who helped earn the Tigers their status as one of the state's top football programs.
The program won five state titles before O'Toole's arrival. By adding championships six and seven the last two years, O'Toole can officially set his place at the table with the other Tigers legends.
Welcome to the club.
“His tools are as good as any that have come before him,” said John Thorne, North Central College's coach who was at the helm of the Tigers program for 22 years leading up to his retirement as a teacher after the 2001 season.
“I see several different quarterbacks in him,” he said. “He's special.”
Take a sprinkle of this one and a dash of that one and you will, in fact, find a piece of all of the program's great quarterbacks in O'Toole. As Tigers coach Ron Muhitch says, “He has all the tools.”
O'Toole this season completed 71 percent of his 262 passes for 3,187 yards and 42 touchdowns against only 3 interceptions. Expanding his role even more in the offense this season, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound two-year starter and three-year varsity member also rushed for 441 yards and 6 touchdowns.
He went 27-1 as a starter, winning his last 26 games including a Class 7A championship win over Glenbard West last year and a repeat in last weekend's final against Lake Zurich. The offensive player of the year in the DuPage Valley Conference also garnered multiple all-state selections.
With his statistics speaking as loud as his winning, O'Toole is the Daily Herald DuPage County 2010 All-Area football captain. He becomes the third Tigers quarterback to claim the honor, joining Thorne and Beutjer on the list.
“More than anything, he's a true competitor,” said Naperville North coach Sean Drendel. “He understands the game completely, he doesn't make mistakes. And that makes him very tough to prepare for. His physical abilities are outstanding, but his poise and composure are his best attributes.
“If you put all the great Wheaton South quarterbacks into the mix, he'd definitely be one of them,” he said.
The Training Ground
Unlike many former WW South quarterbacks, O'Toole did not grow up watching the program's past greats. With his older brother, Reagan, going through St. Francis, it wasn't until eighth grade that Reilly decided to go to WW South.
It didn't take long, however, for O'Toole to learn about the program's history behind center.
“I've met Beutjer and Lester, and coach Brylka's in the program,” O'Toole said. “I've watched the 1998 season tape and it's incredible. Beutjer was so calm and led the team like no one else ever has. Coach Brylka changed the game with his athletic ability; everyone brought a unique perspective to the position.
“The way they all carried themselves on the field was amazing,” he said.
Tigers quarterback coach Matt Alley is a 2000 graduate of WW South who went on to play at Washington University in St. Louis. Alley, a starter in 1999, was Beutjer's backup in the 1998 title season and was brought up to varsity as a freshman in 1996 when Brylka led the Tigers to their second straight title.
Alley was in attendance at all but one of the Tigers' appearances in the final and, like others, sees O'Toole as a unique amalgamation of past quarterbacks.
The one comparison most people like to make, though, is between O'Toole and Beutjer, who in 1998 led perhaps the most dominant offense in state history when he threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 60 touchdowns as the Tigers went 14-0.
“When I played with Beutjer I was a 16-year-old kid kind of in awe of him,” Alley said. “Now I'm a 29-year-old coach who has watched Reilly grow and it's almost impossible for me to compare the two.
“The one thing in common, though, is that they were both always the best player on the field,” he said.
Muhitch sees the competitiveness of Jeff Thorne, the arm of Beutjer, Lester's understanding of the offense and Brylka's athletic ability. They all share winning, although Brylka and O'Toole are the only ones to win two titles.
“Take all those attributes and put them in one, and that's Reilly,” Muhitch said. “They were all part of a great Tiger tradition and Reilly fits right in. He's absolutely out of the same mold.”
All the past greats enjoyed immediate and lengthy success at the next level. Jeff Thorne was a four-year starter at Eastern Illinois, Lester was a four-year starter at Western Michigan, Brylka was a four-year starter at Millikin and Beutjer played at Iowa before transferring to and playing at Illinois.
O'Toole, committed to Illinois, is expected to make a similar impact at college. That's mostly because of the training ground from which he comes.
“We put a big emphasis on that position, and we were careful about who we chose for that position,” John Thorne said. “Leadership, athleticism, intelligence, toughness. Reilly's had all of those attributes. It's been fun to watch.”
Unique greatness
O'Toole was up on varsity as a sophomore and saw limited time at the end of games. He won the quarterback job as a junior last year and made it his own.
As the Tigers' starting quarterback, the torch fully passed down to O'Toole. An experienced signalcaller from his days at St. Michael Middle School in Wheaton, he seized the opportunity.
“I've always loved working on something because you can always get better,” O'Toole said. “By junior year I didn't really feel like a junior because I was so comfortable with my teammates and the varsity level.”
O'Toole's junior year looked like a mini version of this season. He completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,119 yards, 24 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
After that All-Area football season, O'Toole earned a second straight All-Area selection in basketball. He didn't go crazy with exposure camps in the summer, preferring instead to work with his receivers and develop a comfort level.
That work showed this season. While Titus Davis and Travis Kern combined for 102 receptions, 1,992 yards and 26 touchdowns, O'Toole spread the ball to 11 different receivers. Eight caught touchdown passes.
“He's going to be remembered for his big arm, his running and his dispersal of the ball,” Muhitch said. “But people don't realize he's a student of the game. He's worked extremely hard at this.”
O'Toole vastly improved his strength and quickness in the off-season, and his game experience created the perfect storm for his senior year.
He led the Tigers to a 14-0 record with an offense unlike any in program history other than Beutjer's 1998 campaign. That perfection carried over to virtually every play his 14-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio combined with a 71 percent completion rate was an unstoppable combination.
But while all that success shined for the entire state to see, including a nationally televised win over three-time defending 8A champion Maine South on ESPNU, few people noticed O'Toole studying game tape at Alley's house or spending eighth period in Muhitch's office talking about game plans.
“He could take us down the field for a game-winning drive and I wouldn't have to call a play,” Muhitch said.
He's the total package that can be broken down in brilliant pieces. Part Thorne, Lester, Beutjer and Brylka with some Jeff Brown, Ben Klaas, Dan Brauer and even Alley thrown in for good measure.
O'Toole proudly carried the parts of others to create the whole.
All Tiger quarterback. All winner.
“Just to be considered in the same class as those other quarterbacks is pretty humbling,” O'Toole said. “It's just been an honor to be the quarterback here.”