The Stevenson’s football team grip on its first state championship was slipping away in the final minutes of the Class 8A final at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
A 15-point lead had shrunk to six, and Homewood-Flossmoor had just recovered an onside kick. But several Stevenson players said there was no panic on the sideline.
That was because the Patriots had Bill McNamara.
“His positivity is so contagious,” senior running back Jack Joseph said of the Patriots’ coach. “However the head coach acts rubs off on us. I don’t know where we would have been without him.”
On fourth-and-1 from the Patriots’ 9-yard line, junior linebacker Tyler Vincent forced a fumble and senior linebacker James Mahoney recovered the ball with 56 seconds remaining to secure Stevenson’s 31-25 win and the state title.
“We are a bunch of 15- and 18-year kids,” senior lineman Nick Dillon said. “Not everybody that age has the maturity to say we are fine and to stay positive. That’s why it helps to have a coach to get us through those tough times like that.”
McNamara said he didn’t rely any profound message to his players before that last defensive stand. All he told them was to believe in themselves.
“First, you have to build confidence and give them the mindset that we are going to win this thing,” McNamara said. “Just remember the process, take it play by play.
“It’s very important for the leader to be a role model in adverse situations. The calmness I had was confidence in our players and coaches.”
In his fifth season as head coach, McNamara guided the Patriots to a 14-0 record and their best finish in 50 seasons of playing football. He’s 52-10 during his tenure, including 24-3 in the past two seasons. Before taking over, McNamara was an assistant under longtime Stevenson coach Bill Mitz for 20 seasons.
McNamara started his coaching career at Calumet City’s Thornton Fractional North — where he went to high school and played football — and won the Stevenson job over two other assistants when Mitz retired after 28 seasons.
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“When the positioned opened, we saw no reason to look outside of the program,” said Stevenson athletic director Tricia Betthauser, who hired McNamara in 2010. “We had three qualified candidates and thought any of them could be successful.”
If he was never offered the job, McNamara said he would have remained a varsity assistant and science teacher at Stevenson.
“I got into education for coaching and teaching,” said McNamara, the football program’s third varsity coach. “It was a package deal. The science job I have is second to none. I’m at an incredible school with incredible resources and students who want to learn. It’s a dream job. I then happened to be fortunate enough to get hired as the head coach.”
McNamara promptly went 9-0 during the 2010 regular season and captured the North Suburban Lake championship. The Patriots finished 11-1, losing to eventual Class 8A champion Maine South in the quarterfinals.
Not a bad follow-up to Mitz, who went 197-98 at Stevenson and made the playoffs in his last 21 seasons, including a second-place state finish in 2002.
“You can’t step out of Bill Mitz’s shadow,” McNamara said. “His coaching career speaks for itself. All I wanted to do was continue and build on what he did. The foundation was already there. We wanted to continue to be positive influences on young men and win that first state championship.”
Senior starting linebacker Jason Vravick, a Class 8A all-state selection, said he feels lucky to have played three varsity seasons under McNamara.
“It’s incredible to see someone on the sideline who’s not going to give up on you,” Vravick said. “Whether we are winning or losing, he’s always positive. It’s especially hard to do when you’re down, but he keeps his anger and emotions in check during those times.
“We’ve had some crazy finishes, and he’s never freaking out. You can see him smiling, laughing and staying calm.”