No regrets for DiMatteo

He wasn't sick with envy, or with regret, although it would have been perfectly understandable if he had been.

No, Mike DiMatteo was just plain sick.

That's why he didn't drive down to Champaign last weekend to watch the Class 7A state championship football game in person.

Instead, DiMatteo had to settle for watching on television as Lake Zurich, the team he used to coach just two short years ago, lived out the dream that he had envisioned for the program when he first took its reins in 2000.

The Bears outlasted Wheaton Warrenville South 7-3 on Saturday for the school's first athletic state championship in a team sport.

"I am very happy for all of the athletes and everyone involved with the Lake Zurich program," DiMatteo said. "It was so nice to see the things we had in mind when we took over in 2000 finally come to fruition. We always knew that it was just a matter of time before it was going to occur."

"It" started happening last season.

The Bears, heavy on talent and heart, made their move into the state's elite by reaching their very first state championship game, which they wound up losing to St. Rita.

That was their first season without DiMatteo at the helm. He had taken the head coaching job at Hinsdale Central prior to the start of last season and was replaced by Bryan Stortz, one of the first assistants he hired at Lake Zurich.

So, let's do the math here. In the two years that DiMatteo has been gone, Lake Zurich has gotten to two state title games and has won a state crown.

Surely, it all must be a little bittersweet for DiMatteo, whose teams at Hinsdale Central have been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in each of the last two years.

"Well, it's been ... well, I guess I really don't know how to describe it, to be honest with you," said DiMatteo, who went 36-25 in 6 seasons (2000-2005) at Lake Zurich and guided the Bears to an 11-2 mark and a spot in the state semifinals in 2002. "But I don't think that bittersweet is the right word because that implies that there could be regret and from the standpoint of me coming to Hinsdale Central, there are no regrets or anything like that.

"I think, if anything, there's a certain feeling of satisfaction knowing that I was right, knowing that we were doing the right things and that the program that we started is exactly where we thought it would be."

DiMatteo says that he was convinced about four years ago that the current senior class -- the one that includes stars like Jon Janus, Adam Simpson, Dan Kalcsics, Tyler LaFontaine, Kevin Johnson, Brent Marks, Dylan Becker and John Gage, just to name a few -- was a gold mine.

Last year, when the Bears got downstate for the first time ever, DiMatteo wasn't at all surprised. In fact, he expected such a showing.

"When I first took the job at Lake Zurich, I remember telling my wife that we were going to win a state championship," DiMatteo said. "And it became more clear to us as time went on that it was going to be this senior class that would do it. There's so much talent in that class."

And yet, DiMatteo took off just as that class was beginning to rev its engine. To the disappointment of many of the current seniors, he left just before their junior year.

"I'm not going to lie, (knowing how good that class was going to be) is a big part of what made the decision very, very difficult to make. I knew what we had built as a staff and as a group of players," DiMatteo said. "And personally, I was very comfortable at Lake Zurich. I had always felt at home there.

"My wife and I talked about it for an entire weekend. Do you walk away from what we considered a state championship caliber team and go on to Hinsdale Central? Or do you stay? It was such a tough choice."

But DiMatteo chose to go. Everyone has a dream job and for DiMatteo, Hinsdale Central is his.

"I think the name Hinsdale Central speaks for itself as one of the finest athletic and academic institutions in the state," DiMatteo said. "And I had the opportunity to go to a place that I had wanted to go to for many, many years.

"That's no slight to Lake Zurich, or anyone at Lake Zurich. I loved the players I had there, I loved the parents and the support we got from the community. I loved my teaching situation there. It's just about an opportunity that a lot of people told me I couldn't afford to pass up."

And DiMatteo means that quite literally, too.

He got a much better deal to move on to Hinsdale Central and, with small children, he knew that he had to give that part of equation strong consideration.

"Finances absolutely played into it. I'd be lying if I said it didn't," DiMatteo said. "It was something that I felt for the long term, I had to really think about. It was a significant factor.

"But it definitely wasn't the only factor."

DiMatteo grew up in the western suburbs in nearby Melrose Park. He says he has admired Hinsdale Central and its rich football tradition for many years.

"Since I grew up not too far from Hinsdale Central, I've always been very, very aware of the school," DiMatteo said. "And since the beginning of my teaching and coaching career I had thought I always wanted to end up at Hinsdale Central.

"The fact of the matter is, how many times in anyone's career do you get the opportunity to fulfill something that you always wanted to do? It doesn't come around too often, especially in the teaching profession. It's a rare opportunity. Yet, the thing was, I was still on the fence. That's how much I love Lake Zurich."

And Lake Zurich still loves him back.

DiMatteo remains friends with the coaches at Lake Zurich and even some of the players. He says that Janus text-messaged him after the Bears won the state championship.

"Jon and I keep in contact maybe once a month or so," said DiMatteo, who still lives in his old home in nearby Cary. "We had a strong relationship when I was there through both track and football.

"I also still keep in touch with a couple of members of the staff, Shane Williams in particular. He and I are good friends. There are wonderful people at Lake Zurich. I love that place and I always will and I am so happy for Coach Stortz and the players and the whole community. They certainly deserve it."

WW South connection links LZ, Hinsdale Central

How odd is it that DiMatteo and his team at Hinsdale Central opened this season with Wheaton Warrenville South, the team that Lake Zurich, his old team, defeated in last weekend's state championship game?

The irony certainly wasn't lost on DiMatteo.

"It was interesting to see where Lake Zurich was in relation to Wheaton Warrenville South," DiMatteo said. "We have a really, really young team, but we played Wheaton Warrenville South really tough."

The Red Devils, who went 7-4 on the season, lost to Wheaton Warrenville South 20-6 with a sophomore starting at quarterback.

"This kid we have at quarterback is going to be something," DiMatteo said. "As a sophomore, he had something like 1,500 passing yards and 900 rushing yards. We're excited about the future. This is just a great place to be. We've got good kids here, a great core of parent and school support.

"Hinsdale Central is very similar to Lake Zurich in that regard."

-- Patricia Babcock McGraw