Sidelines: Retiring Benet coach Kilbride ‘did it the right way,’ leaving legacy beyond the wins

A sweet era of Benet Academy girls basketball ended March 25 when Redwings coach Joe Kilbride announced his retirement.

Kilbride went 325-55 over 12 seasons, an 86% clip. He led Benet to the 2015 and 2016 Class 4A titles his first two seasons, a 2023 runner-up spot, and fourth place in 2019 and 2022.

His teams won regional titles every season but one, when playoffs weren’t held due to COVID-19. Eight times he was East Suburban Catholic Conference coach of the year.

Kilbride, 68 and living in Downers Grove with his wife, Joanie, had no complicated reason for retiring. He’s just been at it long enough, he said, starting in 1979-80 with Benet’s sophomore boys.

“Honestly it’s a little bittersweet because there’s kids coming up that I love and feel bad about (leaving), but there’s always kids coming up that I love. I just felt like it’s time,” he said.

Kelsey Coulter, a graduate of Batavia High School and North Central College, will succeed Kilbride as varsity coach. With him as an assistant all 12 years, Coulter first impressed Kilbride when he saw her right out of college coaching a travel team, “all-in” with her players.

Coulter brings familiarity with players, and continuity in philosophy, in X’s and O’s.

“She’s like a younger, much better-looking, mini-me,” Kilbride said.

Coulter’s got a great mentor. Kilbride knows mentors. His are a literal hall of fame.

At Bishop McNamara alone he played for Bob Sterr and then Jerry Krieg, who went on to Naperville Central and St. Charles, respectively.

Kilbride played for Tony LaScala at Illinois Benedictine College (now Benedictine University), where he also was valedictorian. Next stop was Benet under Bill Geist, then in the process of coaching the boys team to a state-record 103 straight home wins.

A management consultant by day, Kilbride coached a decade in stints at Benedictine and in boys AAU ball before he returned to Benet in 2004 as an assistant to girls coach Peter Paul.

“He was a gentleman,” Kilbride said. “Everyone respected Peter.”

Kilbride earned his own respect, in part by helping develop 36 college players and two Illinois Ms. Basketball honorees — Kathleen Doyle, now an assistant at DePaul, and Lenée Beaumont, a sophomore at Indiana.

“I’d like to tell you I’m a coaching genius, but the reality is I had great players and I didn’t screw it up too badly,” Kilbride said.

“I felt like we had a lot of success and we did it the right way, and I feel good about that. We had a lot of outstanding young women that I got an opportunity to see grow up.”

Marquee status

C.J. O’Brien no longer plays ultimate Frisbee. Not since he made a diving grab, landed hard and tore a rotator cuff.

But the Batavia High School graduate, now living in West Chicago, is a honcho with the Chicago entry in the Ultimate Frisbee Association professional men’s league.

O’Brien, 37, had a season at Cincinnati under his belt when in 2017 he started playing for the Chicago Wildfire and put a little money into the franchise. In 2020 the club rebranded as the Chicago Union. He is now its owner and president.

O’Brien’s story was told in the first episode of a weekly Marquee Sports Network documentary, “Union: An Ultimate Series,” which recaps the Union’s successful 2025 season and serves as a lead-in to the 2026 season starting May 2.

“There’s a lot of exposure to individual players and personalities in a budding professional sports league,” O’Brien said when reached between flights for his other job as a healthcare management consultant.

The eight-episode series, which debuted March 19, continues at 5 p.m. Thursday on Marquee. It’s also available on Hulu and Prime Video, according to the Union.

O’Brien said the series should go until mid-May. He didn’t want to provide any spoilers, but last year’s Union team was pretty good.

Beginning May 16, the Union will play its home games at Evanston High School’s Lazier Field. In 2025 it played at Northwestern University’s Martin Stadium.

The roster includes Neuqua Valley graduates Joe Cercello and Jack Shanahan, John Lithio of Downers Grove South, and Gabe Schoepke of Jacobs.

O’Brien played ultimate in college. When he graduated he thought he was done with sports. Then he discovered the UFA, “this whole competitive thing I didn’t know existed,” he said.

Going from the field to the front office, and the pressures therein, lends perspective.

“My life looks very different now,” O’Brien said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com