Jim O’Donnell: Now with an Ivy League finish, Zbikowski still dreams of sweet home Chicago
FINDING TOMMY ZBIKOWSKI WASN'T all that hard.
It was the routing that surprised a bit — head east from the Chicago Fire Department and pull over at the Ivy League.
That's where the pride of Buffalo Grove High (2003) and the University of Notre Dame (2008) has been building his coaching resume for the last two seasons.
“Tommy Z” has been serving head coach James Perry as an assistant in charge of safeties for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
THE ASSUMPTION WAS THAT he will be cheer, cheering for old Notre Dame Sunday when the Irish are locked-and-loaded to be the No. 5 seed as the inaugural 12-team field of the expanded College Football Playoff is unveiled (11 a.m.-3 p.m., ESPN).
(As an independent, the Irish — 11-1 — can't be seeded any higher. It also means they'll get a first-round home game, most likely with a 7 p.m. start on either Dec. 20 or Dec. 21.)
He was rooting — sort of.
“Of course I hope Notre Dame does well, but our season here is over and now we're recruiting,” Zbikowski, 39, said. “So that's my focus this weekend.”
HIS CURRENT BEARS CAPPED a 3-7 season tied for sixth in the eight-team Ivy League. While there's no question his fidelity remains with Perry and Brown, any question about the football back in Chicago triggers a passionate response.
First, about the Chicago Bears and their principal current job opening:
“Do I wish I had a thicker coaching resume. Is there a more natural fit for head coach, any more of a 'Chicago guy' than me? Born there, played there, Notre Dame, was a Chicago fireman and EMT for more than three years (2015-19).
“I know the fan base. I know the franchise history. The basics of the defense I coach tracks to Rex Ryan, meaning its principles trace to Buddy Ryan. I was born in 1985, so I was hearing tales of the Ditka Super Bowl Bears from Day 1. In my mind, they are mythic.
“Call me crazy, but I still have moments where I think one day I will be head coach of the Chicago Bears.”
BUT FATE — AND NOW FAMILY — have ways of impacting a career arc. That's especially true for someone whose first full-time coaching gig was a mere two years ago at Western Michigan.
“I met my wife, Hannah, at a boxing gym on the Northwest Side where she worked as a trainer. We now have three kids (Tommy, age 4, Aaliyah, 2, and Ozella, 1).
“College coaching requires a lot of travel. My kids are at ages where I should be home more. The holidays are times when you really think about that a lot.
“I also think a lot about my parents and my brother and sister, all of whom are still back very close to where I grew up in Arlington Heights. I'd love to have their influences around my kids.”
“Z,” DID YOU HEAR THAT ROBBIE GOULD resigned a few day ago after one season as head coach at Rolling Meadows?
“Yeah, I heard that. Interesting. I hope he's happy.”
And you?
“I can't say enough about all that Coach Perry and Brown University have done for me. That's where my loyalty and focus remain. He will be forever the first football guy who gave me my own 'room' (overseeing the safeties). And we really like Rhode Island. It's small, so everything's close.”
Almost as close as Tommy Zbikowski's heart is to the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
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BASEBALL'S WINTER MEETINGS pick up hot stove in Dallas this weekend and Sunday will offer a crescendo with notable Chicago orientation.
The quest to get Dick Allen into Cooperstown will get yet another answer when the balloting of the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee will be announced (6:30 p.m., MLB Network).
An optimistic “watch party” will be held deep in the heart of Texas. Among the attendees will be Richard Allen Jr. of Tampa and Dr. David Fletcher (a native of Glen Ellyn) and John Owens, coauthors of “Chili Dog MVP,” an impassioned 2022 homage to the dark prince of old Comiskey Park.
ANYONE WHO WATCHED ALLEN during his three-year run on the South Side (1972-74) is probably pulling for his inclusion. Quite simply, a TV viewer did not leave the room when No. 15 came to bat.
But during other MLB turns in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Los Angeles, Allen was not always as universally hailed. He knew his talent level — extraordinary, worthy of his own set of clubhouse rules. He also alienated far too many of the pontifical Old Guard in baseball press boxes.
During 14 listings on the main ballot for the Baseball Hall (1983-97), Allen never came close. In two more recent polls by the pre-1980 committee (2015 and 2022), he fell one vote short of the 12 necessary to get in.
ALLEN WENT TO HIS GRAVE four years ago this weekend voicing few regrets. To say that he marched to the beat of his own drummer doesn't begin to explain his complex rhythms.
He was a fresh sort of hero for his Chicago times — bold, charismatically gifted and, in the slog of canned-hippie expectations, truly insouciant.
In other words, the sort of rare diamond-aire it was very easy to admire.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.