Winning's a blast for bright-minded Bazsali
Optimism and enthusiasm have been trademarks of Bruce Bazsali's life and coaching career.
If he had a football team at Elk Grove with a small roster he found a way to make it a positive. He once billed a season-ending game between two teams out of the playoff picture into “the Eastern division championship of the Mid-Suburban South” back in the mid-1990s.
But even Bazsali, who retired as a head coach at Elk Grove in 2004 and then assisted Prospect during its amazing run, wondered if he had enough in him when he was asked to overhaul a downtrodden Rockford Lutheran football program in 2010.
“I remember talking to Cathy (Bazsali's wife) and I said, ‘I've been pretty spoiled,'” said Bazsali, who was Lutheran's principal at the time. “From the last few years at Elk Grove to Prospect winning all the time and winning a state championship (2005). I didn't know if I had the energy to be a part of building a program.”
Of course, it turned out Bazsali still had the drive and enthusiasm he's possessed since he started high school coaching in 1967. Winning a total of 3 games in his first two years was progress for a program that had a combined 6 victories in the seven seasons before he took over.
Now Bazsali has seen the payoff in a 31-5 record the last three years. It includes a trip to the Class 4A semifinals last season and a perfect season that came to a heartbreaking end in a 1-point quarterfinal loss to Phillips last Saturday.
“I can't believe I'm still going as strong as I am, but it keeps me young and I love the kids and the camaraderie with the coaches,” said Bazsali, who lives in Belvidere. “This has been just a great experience.”
Especially for someone whose experience has taken him from downstate Knoxville to Hampshire, St. Edward in Elgin, Carmel, Rolling Meadows, Prospect and Elk Grove.
And he knew it wouldn't be easy at Lutheran after going through a long struggle to get Elk Grove to three playoff trips in his last four years with an 11-1 farewell finish.
Lutheran reached the playoffs four times between 1988 and 2002. That was ancient history compared to what Bazsali inherited — a program that had lost 17 straight games and was in the midst of a Big Northern Conference division losing streak that would reach 27.
A 62-0 victory over a Chicago Public League school in Bazsali's debut was a mirage as Lutheran lost the rest of its games in hist first season by at least 26 points. By the end there were only 21 players in the entire program.
“I told people, ‘This is probably the worst football program in the world,'” Bazsali said. “The kids didn't want anything to do with it. They didn't want to wear anything with football on it.”
Bazsali, an Elgin High School product, started changing that culture by telling players they would have to give up time in the summer and hit the weight room in the winter to succeed. He also got a feeder program going.
The Crusaders showed signs of being much more competitive in his second year. Then one day he said he was walking through the gym and saw a kid playing basketball.
“He had friends who went to Lutheran ... and I asked who he is and they said that's James Robinson,” Bazsali said.
Now football people inside and outside of Illinois know James Robinson is one of the state's best running backs. The first four times he touched the ball as a freshman for Lutheran he scored — 3 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Robinson just came off a monster season where he rushed for 2,227 yards and 38 touchdowns. Bazsali said Illinois State has offered Robinson a scholarship and big schools such as Notre Dame, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan are looking at him.
“He's something,” Bazsali said. “He's just a great kid.”
Now football is something kids want to be a part of at Lutheran. The overall number of players in the program are in the 60s at a school with 397 students.
Old friends such as longtime buddy Mike Mullaney, who was a head coach at Hersey and the defensive coordinator of its 1987 state championship team, wanted to be part of it as well.
Mullaney was finally convinced by Bazsali this year to be Lutheran's co-defensive coordinator with Ben Thompson. Mullaney, who lives in Cary, would come up three days a week during the regular season and four during the playoffs.
“I've been trying to get him there the last four years,” Bazsali said with a laugh. “He called up one day and said, ‘Maybe I'll think about it,' and that opened the door. It was great when he came up and he really gave us a great, great defense.
“The kids understood it and bought into it. He had great answers for anything teams would do to us.”
Last Saturday was a prime example as Phillips didn't score after its first two possessions. Lutheran got a touchdown and a chance to tie with less than two minutes left but narrowly missed an extra point and fell 14-13.
“It was a great high school football game,” Bazsali said. “I hated for our kids, who had worked so hard and really believed they could take this to a state championship level, that they had to lose. But these kids, in my mind, they are state champions.”
Lutheran should have another legitimate shot at getting there with Robinson and his entire offensive line leading a large group of returnees.
“It's really become a family now,” said Bazsali, who is closing in on 100 carer head coaching victories. “It's amazing how passionate are at our school about football now.”
It is not surprising considering the level of passion Bruce Bazsali brings everywhere he goes.
• Marty Maciaszek is a freelance columnist for the Daily Herald. You can reach him at marty.maciaszek@gmail.com.