Farrell let go at Buffalo Grove

A season-opening victory over a successful Lake Forest program seemed to bode well for Buffalo Grove and head coach Jim Farrell after a couple of playoff near-misses.

But that turned out to be BG’s only win as it finished the season 1-8. On Monday, school administrators informed Farrell that his four-year tenure in charge of the program was over.

“They told me they wanted to go in another direction,” Farrell said late Monday night after he had a 13-23 record at BG. “I didn’t anticipate it.

“We were pretty competitive during that span. We’ve been getting kids next-level opportunities and kids are staying out of trouble and getting good grades.

“But in this day and age in which we live, even at the high-school level, it’s an end-result product.”

The former Fremd football and track star was an assistant at Elk Grove before taking over at BG after Rich Roberts retired.

Farrell’s first team was 3-6 but in his second year the Bison were in the hunt for a Mid-Suburban East title. They finished 5-4 for the program’s first above-.500 season since 2002 but didn’t have enough playoff points to make the postseason field.

BG was 4-5 last year when quarterback Mike Garrity missed much of the season because of a concussion. This season was the program’s eighth in a row where it missed the playoffs.

“This was a tough season for sure,” Farrell said. “We were in a lot of ballgames and the kids kept fighting really hard.”

Farrell will be coaching the wide receivers for USA Football in the Team USA vs. the World game for high school seniors this winter.

“Never say never,” Farrell said of his interest in becoming a head coach again. “I’m only 36 so I have a lot of football coaching still ahead.”