McNamara follows Mitz as Stevenson's coach
Bill Mitz won't be the head football coach at Stevenson next fall.
But another Bill will.
Just like Mitz, this other Bill played college football, bleeds Stevenson green and gold and has seen his children root for the Patriots since infancy, ultimately becoming Stevenson ball boys when they were old enough.
On Monday, Stevenson announced that longtime assistant coach Bill McNamara will take over the program from Mitz, who retired at the end of this season after 28 years, 197 wins and 21 consecutive IHSA playoff appearances.
"Bill has been with me for a long time," Mitz said. "He's a really good coach, he's hard-working, he knows the (North Suburban) conference and he works really well with the kids. He'll be a players' coach.
"I'm really excited for him and I hope the tradition we've built at Stevenson will continue for him."
The 43-year-old McNamara has been on the Stevenson coaching staff for 18 years, including the last 16 with the varsity. He will be just the third head coach in school history. Tom Baumann was the first head coach and went from 1965 to 1981.
"My immediate reaction when I found out I got the job is that I felt so honored to be given the opportunity to be the next head coach at a school like Stevenson," said McNamara, a science teacher who has most recently served as the team's offensive coordinator as well as quarterbacks and safeties coach. "And to follow a coach like Bill Mitz is just such a tremendous honor as well. I feel so blessed.
"This is something I've always wanted to do. Being a head football coach is one of the reasons I entered education. Coaching has always been a passion for me. This is such a great feeling."
McNamara's excitement has been tempered just a bit by the fact that he beat out two of his fellow colleagues for the job. Stevenson did not open the position to outside candidates. The other two finalists are also current Stevenson assistants.
"You just know that all of the assistants who applied for the position are tremendous coaches and people," McNamara said. "It was a very unique situation that created a lot of anxiety. You just had to focus on being positive and hope that things worked out."
When word came that things did indeed work out for McNamara, he said that his family was almost more over the moon than he was.
"I'm a pretty level, even-keel person," McNamara said. "But my family is pretty outward about all of this, showing a tremendous amount of emotion and excitement. My wife (Kelly) has always been extremely supportive and my three kids have always gone to the games. My daughter (Kayla, 8) wraps up in her snowsuit to go sit in the cold and watch the games. My sons (Dylan, 14 and a freshman in the Vernon Hills football program and Connor, 12) were the ball boys at the games.
"My family has always been extremely supportive and I'm very lucky for that."
McNamara also has the good fortune of inheriting a program that is in very good shape.
In 2009, the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season for only the fourth time in school history, won the North Suburban Conference Lake Division title and finished 10-1. While many key seniors will be gone, Stevenson does return its starting quarterback, Kevin Earl.
Given that McNamara was an all-conference quarterback at Lawrence University in the late 1980s, does that mean that Stevenson will be a pass-first team next season?
"First of all, I like to win football games, so we're going to do what it takes to win football games," McNamara said. "Having an explosive passing game is really exciting. But it was equally exciting giving the ball to (Daily Herald player of the year) Mark Weisman 46 times (in a game against Lake Forest) this year and winning football games that way.
"I'm just looking to build on what Bill Mitz has already put together and keep moving this program forward so that we can win football games."