Brechin turned injury into an opportunity
Addison Trail graduate Bill Brechin has made a great, big pitcher of lemonade from life's proverbial lemons.
A football star who transferred in 2003 to Grand Valley State from the University of Northern Iowa, Brechin separated his shoulder in Week 2. Redshirt year.
In the Lakers' 2004 opener he suffered a dislocated ankle and broken leg. Division II rules allowed a second redshirt year.
Brechin's patience and drive were rewarded when he returned at cornerback for Grand Valley's 2005 and 2006 national champions, intercepting 2 passes and recovering a fumble in the 2006 title game.
Furthermore, all that down time contributed to his current standing as an offensive intern at Notre Dame for coach Brian Kelly. Like a backup catcher sitting next to the manager in the dugout, Brechin's two lost seasons at Grand Valley State created a coach in waiting.
“I was a good athlete I wasn't great. But because of my knowledge of the game and because of sitting out and absorbing it, when I was not playing I was still out there coaching the other guys underneath me,” said Brechin, a 2000 all-state quarterback-defensive back at Addison Trail whose brother Dave also became a multisport star for the Blazers.
“I always tell guys I didn't play at Grand Valley because I was a better athlete, I played there because I was smarter than everybody else, because I understood the defense better than everybody else.”
Kelly, Grand Valley State's head coach from 1991-2003, recruited Brechin out of high school but in college their paths merged only in that 2003 season. Brechin's closer contact was with Kelly's successor, Chuck Martin, who became Notre Dame's defensive backs coach this January. Brechin, 28, was a graduate assistant two seasons at Grand Valley before joining Martin in South Bend.
“The reason we're all here at Notre Dame is because of Brian Kelly,” said Brechin, whose wife, Jessica once employed by Martin as a babysitter works as a physical therapist back in Grand Rapids, where she lives with their 3-month-old son, John.
“It's not only a pleasure to be here at Notre Dame,” he said, “it's a pleasure to be working for a guy who understands, A, what Notre Dame stands for, and B, is a winner.”
Happily working seven days a week logging hours he said are “too many to count,” on the field Brechin primarily works with the offensive linemen, who include Glenbard West's Chris Watt. Off the field he's involved in “quality control” breaking down film, statistics, coordinating scout teams, practice preparation. On game day he's in the coaches' box four stories up.
As a Chicago-area Catholic, he said, Notre Dame is where it's at, with football lore as striking as sunshine off the Golden Dome.
“Just walking in the building every day, knowing that Ara Parseghian was the coach here, and Lou Holtz, just the history around it, and you're part of it,” Brechin said. “You're walking on the same field as some of the best players in the history of football. The Four Horsemen. You're walking around every day and finding out something new.”
Helping dissect the Navy option offense as the 4-3 Irish seek a fourth straight win Saturday, Brechin is no awe-struck kid. In fact, he already sounds like a football lifer.
“We've got some tough games ahead of us,” he said, “but I feel like we're moving in the right direction.”
Now hear this
North Central College's homecoming football game, 2 p.m. Saturday against Illinois Wesleyan at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, will be broadcast live on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17. An audio broadcast is also available at 98.1 FM WONC, North Central's fantastic radio station.
Coach John Thorne's 6-0 Cardinals take the field ranked sixth in Division III by the American Football Coaches Association and seventh by D3football.com.
NCTV-17 sportscasters Alex Symonds and Ben Hutchison will describe the play of such area graduates as Josh McLeod (Lisle), Nick Capristo (Waubonsie Valley) and preseason All-America offensive lineman Kyle Antos (Wheaton Warrenville South).