Former Providence players, assistant coach express support for fired head football coach

Lucas Proudfoot was Tyler Plantz’s first quarterback at Providence, and Proudfoot saw firsthand how quickly things changed for the Celtics once Plantz took over as the head coach in 2022.

Proudfoot, who quarterbacked Providence to a Class 4A runner-up finish as a senior in Plantz’s first season, said “shock doesn’t even begin to describe” his reaction to Plantz being fired over the weekend.

“My junior year, we lost 42-0 to Joliet Catholic,” Proudfoot said. “My senior year, we beat JCA in the playoffs. No one thought we’d even compete with them. We made it to state. Coach Plantz brought back not only the football program but the entire school.

“He changed the culture the day he walked into the building, all for the better. Now that he’s not there, you’ll see what happens. It’s going to go straight downhill like it was before he got there.”

Plantz, who released a statement Monday saying he was asked to resign and refused, has received an outpouring of support from many former players — and at least one assistant coach from his staff — over the last two days.

Gavin Hagan, a 2025 Providence graduate who was named the Catholic League White’s defensive player of the year as a junior and the league’s offensive player of the year as a senior, was playing for Indiana State in Saturday night’s game at Eastern Illinois.

But he confirmed that word was already quickly spreading about the school’s plans to remove Plantz as head coach.

“My phone was blowing up after the game Saturday night,” Hagan said. “People were sending (Providence president) Father Merkelis’ email address and saying to contact him.

“Everybody’s shocked and wants to know what’s going on. The reasons they released just don’t really add up to me.”

Hagan and Proudfoot both credited Plantz for having a huge impact on their lives, both on and off the field.

“Coach Plantz molded me into the man that I am now,” Hagan said. “He’s a great coach, but he’s an even better man. This whole situation is just shocking, and it makes no sense to me.”

Providence assistant coach Alex Pell, meanwhile, posted Monday afternoon on X his support for Plantz.

“At a loss for words,” Pell said. “It’s incredibly difficult watching what I believe is an injustice happen to someone I respect so much. Grateful for everything Tyler Plantz has done for me, our players and this program. I stand with coach Plantz.”

A petition started by former Providence and Northwestern running back Tim Hanrahan on Change.org calling for people to “support coach Tyler Plantz by addressing his unjust dismissal” had received over 1,400 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

Plantz took over as the Celtics’ head coach in 2022 and was 35-19. He led Providence to a Class 4A runner-up finish in his first season and second place in 5A last fall.

The Celtics easily beat Carmel 31-7 on Friday night to improve to 4-0 and are set to take on Nazareth (1-3) at 6 p.m. Friday in LaGrange Park.

Offensive coordinator Adam Nissen has been named the Celtics’ interim head coach. Nissen joined the Celtics’ staff last season after serving as the head coach at St. Laurence from 2019 to 2024. He went 35-28 with the Vikings, leading them to a Class 4A runner-up finish in 2023.

Proudfoot believes his alma mater is losing a dedicated coach.

“There’s nobody that cares more about Providence Catholic than Tyler Plantz and his entire family,” Proudfoot said. “If there’s 24 hours in a day, coach Plantz is doing something football-related for 20 of them.

“I came into school early one day during JCA week and who is sleeping in his office? Coach Plantz. And he had just had a baby. That’s insane to me. He cares so much.”