Every Friday night, around sixty five players rush the field, padded head to toe, looking ready for battle. The student section is buzzing with excitement, the bell is blared, the prayer is prayed, the anthem sung and the guys are off, participating in the pounding and tackling fest called the great American game of football.

Monday through Thursday, walking into DePaul Prep, you’ll find a full weight room, house music blasting (loudly, yet not overbearingly so) as these same players gather, to lift, watch film and learn plays. The tone is strikingly different from Friday nights, as the team laughs and jokes around, obviously enjoying each other’s company, while all this time never losing sight of their overarching goals.

This environment has been meticulously curated by the coaching staff, including Michael Passarella, Head Coach of the varsity football team.

Passarella said his goal is to “create a culture and an environment that’s inclusive for everybody.” He doesn’t want practice to simply be all about work, but also a “place where they can let everything go and have fun.”

This group spends hours a week with each other, practicing until 6 or 7 every weeknight, joining together for team dinners once a week and even participating in a weekly team Mass, to get them ready for their Friday night game.

Passarella notes the intensity of the practice schedule, as he said, “I spend probably more time with my football players than I do with my own family.”

This has also caused the players to become closer, as the seasons go on. Senior Dom Bitz joined the team freshman year, not just because he was interested in playing football, but also as a way to meet new people. He said he has met many of his closest friends on the team.

“Each lesson, you get more familiar with people and it really helps to make those relationships,” Bitz said.

These relationships are the backbone of the team, Passarella believes, and what makes this class of seniors so special.

“In the past, it’s been maybe a little bit more challenging, a little more animosities and some battling back and forth between guys,” he said, “[while] this year with the senior group that we have, everyone is on the same page.”

Senior and tight end Aidan Castette said that the reason behind the close-knit community is their motivation. “We all have a goal of trying to win state, and that’s really been bringing us together,” he said.

Last year, the team had a 4-5 record, pulling off a double overtime win against Fenwick, and even beating Notre Dame College Prep 35-7 at their own homecoming game. This momentum has continued to power the football program this year, as the team is going to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

As Bitz said, “We really saw a glimpse at the end of last year of what we were capable of, that’s kind of pushed us to be at the level we’re at today, and get more focused every day.”

This “taste of victory” has powered the seniors to be even more motivated, affecting the underclassmen as well, inspiring them to work harder.

“There’s a hunger within the senior group, in terms of what they want to accomplish,” Passarella said. “It becomes a trickle down effect, and it’s infectious, where it spreads through the rest of the locker room and the other kids in the program to help them work towards the same common goal.”

This energy and community created by the football program will also help players after they graduate. As Passarella said, “My job is during these four years, to prepare my student athletes for the next stage in their lives.”

The players do feel like they have gained significant life skills from the team. Bitz notes that his communication skills have vastly improved since joining the team, while Castette said that he has grown in his time management abilities.

The players also participate in service opportunities across the city, and the coaches place emphasis on academic success, as well as athletics, to create well-rounded players, ready for the next stage of their lives.

Yet, the most important thing these players will remember from their time at DePaul Prep is the community and supportive atmosphere they have created.

As Bitz said, “It’s really a brotherhood, supporting one another, whether it be in football, school or anything in life.”