Bazsali ready to tackle Rockford Lutheran challenge

Resurrecting a football program with 6 wins in the last seven years wouldn't seem to be for a retiring type on the verge of turning 65.

But Bruce Bazsali isn't the type to let time pass by idly and quietly. And the former head football coach at Elk Grove and Carmel and recent assistant at Prospect would be the first to laugh if told he hardly acts his age.

So, Bazsali is ready to pour his energy - and there is still plenty of it - into his next challenge. He was introduced Tuesday night at a parent meeting/news conference as the new head football coach at Rockford Lutheran High School.

"I've been very spoiled the last 10 years - and I feel this is a way to say thanks for 10 years and everything that's happened," Bazsali said. "The Hall of Fame (Illinois High School Football Coaches Association induction), the state championship (2005 as a Prospect assistant) and the ending at Elk Grove (2004 state quarterfinalist) and how good it felt.

"How do you say thanks for that? You don't go some place where you can win and sit back and be all fat and sassy about yourself. You do this."

This was actually set in motion after Bazsali retired after 15 years as Elk Grove's head coach. After a year at Prospect he had coaching interest from high schools and colleges near his Belvidere home.

He also saw an opening for a principal at Rockford Lutheran's grade-school academy.

"I heard the kids sing at the chapel and said, 'That's what I want to do,'" said Bazsali, who is now in his fourth year in the position.

He also came back to Prospect the last two years to be the quarterbacks coach and work with Division I prospect Miles Osei.

But after Rockford Lutheran's third 0-9 season since 2003, officials approached Bazsali about taking over for Brian Kube, who resigned.

"At first I told them I can't do it," Bazsali said. "I'd have to give up the principal's job."

The school said they would bring in an assistant principal to help give him the time he needed to devote to the football program. He also had the full support of his wife Cathy.

"I wasn't sure because it was such an overwhelming job - and I thought about how long that took (at Elk Grove)," Bazsali said of making his first playoff appearance after 12 years. "I think these people are really ready. It's almost like it was a plan for me to be here all along.

"Somehow I was directed to the principal's job and somehow this came up the way it did."

Rockford Lutheran made the last of five playoff trips in 2002. But its slide coincided with its move from the Private School League to the Big Northern Conference.

The program has lost 17 consecutive games overall and 22 straight division games in a league where Stillman Valley won state titles this fall and in 2003.

Bazsali doesn't believe looking for a lesser league is an answer since the girls soccer program's three state trophies include a Class A title in 2007. The boys basketball program took fourth in Class A in 1994 and has won three straight regional titles.

"Why would we water down our athletics when we win in all the other stuff," Bazsali said. "You have to believe and do certain things."

Bazsali said the athletes and facilities are in place. The commitment from the school has already been displayed with the purchase of an end zone video camera.

Now he said it's time to start restoring off-season player commitments in areas such as weightlifting.

"It's all about the dream and the journey and that's what I'm going to talk to the kids and parents about," Bazsali said. "It won't work if you don't have all their commitment."

And Rockford Lutheran definitely committed to someone who has never lacked for enthusiasm or optimism to get a difficult job done.

"A lot of people here really believe in me and said, 'We think you can turn this thing around,'" Bazsali said. "Everybody has told these kids they can't win and that's the problem.

"I think I can get these kids to believe they can win."

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com