Bears’ Randle El was destined to coach

Nearly 29 years ago, Bill Mosel confidently stood on a practice field during a late morning in August.

Thornton Twp. players and coaches walked half a block north of the Harvey high school and joined him at one of the practice fields next to the school’s stadium. The Wildcats geared up for their second practice of the day.

Mosel had plenty of reasons to be confident up to that point. He had led Thornton to the Class 6A state championship game twice, winning once, in his 10 seasons as the program’s head coach. The Wildcats came off back-to-back playoff appearances heading into 1996 with a roster filled with future NFL and Division-I collegiate talent.

But Mosel confidently stood on that field for one reason. He was so confident that he even told his coaches his plan in between practices.

It was finally the day he’d tire out his senior quarterback, Antwaan Randle El.

“It was a way to see how he would react,” Mosel recalled. “A little added pressure.”

Mosel tried his best. He ran the team hard during that second practice. Conditioning drills, positional drills, all of it. Mosel turned up the practice’s speed and continuously challenged Randle El.

That confidence quickly waned as the morning turned into afternoon. Almost every player started to drag, slowed down or just stopped. Every player except one.

Mosel watched as Randle El led each drill with a grin on his face. The “Energizer Bunny” never stopped. Mosel swore Randle El even left practice with a pep in his step.

“Today was the day I thought I could get him,” Mosel told coaches after practice. “He got me.”

Years before Randle El became the Chicago Bears’ assistant head coach and wide receivers coach, threw a Super Bowl-clinching pass for the Pittsburgh Steelers, or won the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player award at Indiana, he was just a kid from Riverdale. He loved to play ball and tried to bring the best out of his teammates.

Twenty-nine years later, Randle El is exactly where his former Thornton coaches and teammates thought he’d be.

“It’s no surprise to me that he’s in a position that he’s in because he’s a natural leader,” said Napoleon Harris III, an Illinois state senator and Randle El’s former Thornton teammate. “He’s always been a leader.”

‘He’s got it’

Mosel’s first interaction with Randle El came through his older brother, Curtis. Antwaan, Curtis and their mother Jacqueline came to the school to pick up Curtis’ equipment before his sophomore season.

Jacqueline had a message for Mosel. Antwaan didn’t belong on the freshman team.

“I kind of looked at her and I said, ‘Well, you know, you let us make that decision,’” Mosel said. “To be honest, it is the first time and probably the only time that I ever remember a parent being right.”

Antwaan quickly gained Mosel’s attention with his athleticism. Mosel brought Antwaan up to the varsity team heading into his sophomore season and named him the starting quarterback after he naturally fit in with his leadership.

Three games into that year, the rest of the area started to realize Jacqueline was right.

After trailing Homewood-Flossmoor 27-12 heading into the fourth quarter, Randle El led Thornton to two scoring drives. The Wildcats made it a one-point game with three seconds left and had a chance to tie it with an extra-point attempt.

Randle El didn’t hesitate when he ran to Mosel to talk about what to do. He wanted to go for the win.

Mosel agreed and Randle El found Jack Golden in the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion. Thornton snapped Homewood-Flossmoor’s 44-game conference winning streak.

“For a young kid, it’s just like ice water in the veins,” Mosel said. “He’d make play after play after play on that drive. That’s when you look and go, yeah, he’s got it.”

No matter what sport Randle El played, he had it. Thornton football qualified for the playoffs all three seasons he was the starting quarterback. He compiled a 25-7 record and the Wildcats advanced as far as the 6A quarterfinals in 1996.

Thornton’s basketball program reached the state finals each of the three years he played on varsity, finishing runner-up twice and third once. The Chicago Cubs even drafted Randle El in the 14th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft.

“It’s no coincidence that wherever Antwaan goes that success follows,” Harris III said.

Randle El didn’t just rely on talent. He worked to be the smartest player on whatever field of play. When he joined the varsity basketball team midway through his sophomore season, he constantly asked questions to fully grasp the team’s game plan.

No matter how insignificant something seemed to others, Randle El wanted to gain whatever advantage he could find.

That preparation made him an invaluable asset.

“I listened to him because I knew he was my eyes and ears and extension of me out there on the floor,” former Thornton boys basketball coach Rocky Hill said. “He just had that kind of personality where everybody just let him lead and assume that he was a leader.”

Head of the snake

Chauncey Jones noticed something different during a basketball open gym before his junior season in 1993. There was this new kid Jones hadn’t met before.

He had unique speed. He cheered after big plays. He directed his teammates where to go. He was a freshman.

He was Antwaan Randle El.

“He stuck out because he always had that leadership quality about him,” said Jones, Randle El’s former teammate and current Thornridge boys basketball coach. “He had a sense of maturity and he just really competed hard. That’s what you notice about Antwaan when you first see him.”

Randle El exemplified those qualities even in limited minutes when he first joined the varsity team. He was loud on the bench and supported his teammates. When he did play, Randle El controlled the court and seamlessly guided the Wildcats’ offense.

Thornton players quickly bought into Randle El’s leadership when he became the starting point guard his junior year. Randle El wasn’t Thornton’s top scorer by any means. But he used his quarterback skills to be a field general on and off the court.

“He was the head of the snake because everybody followed him and they didn’t mind,” Hill said. “Here’s the incredible thing, they didn’t mind following him because everybody looked up to him. They knew he was legit and what he was trying to do. He was just all business. There wasn’t any playing around.”

Randle El made sure of that in every sport that he played. That football practice from before his senior season wasn’t an anomaly. Former teammates and coaches recounted countless stories where Randle El gave his best in everything that he did: practice, weight lifting, conditioning, anything.

During basketball practices, he challenged his teammates by going hard to the rim. In goal line drills for football, he’d get right back after a player if someone tried to hit him.

“He made sure that everybody played to a certain standard and a high level,” said Jermaine Hampton, a former basketball and football teammate. “If you didn’t, he’ll get on you.”

But Randle El balanced his approach. He’d get after players but also brought an infectious energy to everything that he did. He found a way to get the best out of everyone, even when his teammates felt they didn’t have anything to give.

Randle El has brought that energy since Harris met him in fifth grade. And it’s only grown since then.

“Some people are just born leaders,” Harris said. “Some people develop it too. I think he’s a combination of both. He was born a leader and he also developed those fields through sports to be more of an effective leader.”

‘A stud’

When new Bears head coach Ben Johnson met with reporters during the last week of February at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Johnson emphasized what he looked for while building his first staff. He searched for integrity, great teachers, a great work ethic, coaches who are demanding on and off the field.

That’s why he made sure to bring Randle El with him from Detroit when he came to Chicago.

“El’s a stud,” Johnson said. “And that’s one of the reasons, not only will he help me out tremendously, but he’s going to make this offense, he’s going to make this team, he’s going to make that receiver room better. He’s going to leave it better than when he found it. I know that for certain.”

Mosel got a chance to watch Randle El start his NFL coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019 after Mosel retired in Florida. When Mosel attended games, he saw Randle El coach with the same intensity he played with back at Thornton.

That intensity came through the TV when he watched Lions games and he expects it’ll be the same with the Bears.

“I wouldn’t expect that he would change that much,” Mosel said. “I think he’s always going to be who he is and that’s what makes him special.”