Mitz has Jacobs believing
A hall-of-fame coach's impact extends well beyond the walls of the high school when he arrives in a new football community.
Former Stevenson coach Bill Mitz, within two months of taking the Jacobs job last February, visited a board meeting of the program's youth feeder league, the Lake in the Hills-Algonquin Falcons.
Unsure why the feeder league's mascot was different from the high school mascot, the Golden Eagles, Mitz right away addressed what he viewed as a continuity issue.
"I said, 'I'd like I'd like you to change it to Eagles so we're all one from the little five year olds up to the 18 year olds. So when people say Eagles they take a lot of pride in it,'" Mitz said. "It just all makes sense."
Visitors who log onto the website of the LA Falcons, a league so named since 1985, now see a message on the home page that reads: "In 2010, the organization switched its name from the Falcons to the Junior Eagles to further solidify its identity as the feeder team for the Jacobs High School Golden Eagles."
It may seem like a small change to some, but it speaks to a community from top to bottom coming together to back a program completely to help make it successful.
Belief was always at the heart of the philosophy that allowed Mitz and his assistants to guide 21 straight teams from Stevenson to the playoffs between 1989-2009. The Patriots believed every year when they came to camp that they were working toward a playoff berth.
By instilling such belief in the Golden Eagles, Mitz and his staff which includes former Stevenson coaches Andy Farrissey, Mike Warren and Ryan Arndt have led Jacobs (6-3) to the playoffs in their first season at the Algonquin school.
The 12th-seeded Golden Eagles will take on No. 5 Lake Zurich (8-1) tonight in their first playoff appearance since 2006 and sixth since 1978.
As much as Mitz wanted the community to realize last spring that the playoffs were a realistic possibility, he first had to first convince the players themselves after back-to-back 2-7 seasons.
From the first team meeting forward, Mitz had his new players finish every session by chanting "champions." The mantra applies to more than games and practices. "It means you're a champion in life every day," Mitz said. "You want to win every game, no doubt, but besides winning there's a lot of ways to be a champion."
The players responded to the belief-instilling approach. They were hungry for it.
"In the beginning of the year (Mitz) told us, 'This isn't a rebuilding year. We're looking to make it to the playoffs and win a state championship,' " said senior Grant Rizza, who plays halfback and outside linebacker. "Just the mentality he gives us of being a championship team, we really build off that.
"And everything's a lot more intense. He has a swagger to him, like 'No one can beat us.' He's real confident that we'll play the best we can every night."
And play their best the Golden Eagles have. They opened the season 3-1 with victories over Joliet West, Johnsburg and Grayslake Central, losing only to state-ranked Prairie Ridge, which operates the triple-option offense.
Jacobs slipped the following two weeks, however. The Eagles were blown out by defending state champion Cary-Grove, whose triple option created a 35-0 deficit after one half. They bounced back the following week on their homecoming and put a scare into eventual league champion CL South (9-0).
Jacobs nearly scored the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but South halted the drive and added a late touchdown of its own to pull away for a 28-14 victory. But playing toe-to-toe with the area's top teams for four quarters gave the Golden Eagles a new level of confidence.
"We came out and we weren't afraid of anyone," Jacobs senior two-way lineman John McMahon said. "We realized we can play with anyone as long as we believe it."
Ah, there's that word again.
With a renewed belief that they could play evenly with the area's top teams, the Golden Eagles reeled off 3 straight victories over non-playoff qualifiers Dundee-Crown, McHenry and Huntley to seal their playoff bid. Just as their new coach had deemed possible last spring, they were indeed a playoff team.
"It just feels good that the program is changing around and we're starting a new tradition of winning," junior tailback Caz Zyks said.
In the process of turning Jacobs into a winner in his first year, Mitz extended his personal streak of playoff appearances to 22 seasons. Is this the most gratifying of the entire string?
"Well, sure it is," Mitz said. "We didn't know these kids and they didn't know us. Now they're starting to believe in us and we believe in each other. It was a challenge, but it's been a gratifying experience for us all."