The Varsity Boys football team had great success this season, winning the state championship on November 29th. This win came after years of hard work and constant adaptations to the program; the last state title that was won was in 1980. In previous years the teams have not been able to make it to the playoffs, ending their season early, but through the hard work of the players and coaches ended the season with a 11-3 record and the state title in IHSA class 4A.
Michael Passarella has been the head coach of the varsity boys football team for six years. Passarella has an extensive background in football, previously working for the NFL as a scouting analyst with the Cleveland Browns, and coaching throughout college. He said became head coach for DePaul Preps football program because he’s “always been looking to try and build something from the grown up to show what I can do.”
The program hadn’t always been as successful as it was this year. DePaul Prep’s football field was built in 2020, when the new campus was opened behind Lane Tech. Before this, the team practiced at Horner Park between the two baseball fields.
Passarella said “We would always have to practice right after school because the baseball games would come and we would kind of get kicked off the field.” The players also could not have the traditional strength training before practices, because they needed to utilize the most time they could on the field. Though it was a struggle finding enough time to complete all the necessary training, the team continued to improve every year. Passarella said “it taught our kids how to fight through adversity for that first year and how to overcome different hurdles and obstacles, which translates to the game of football.”
Passarella said that this year’s win at state was a culmination of many different factors, but the two most emphasized were the brotherhood of the team and the new coaching methods employed this season. This year, the coaches decided to approach training using Passarella’s degree in kinesiology, which is the study of body movements.
The team practiced Monday to Thursday, with one long practice a week on Mondays and a walkthrough on Wednesday to prepare for their games on Fridays. One important practice Passarella emphasized was having the players walk barefoot on the grass. He said that this practice helped the players’ bodies get in tune with the ground. Though there was some pushback on the new tactics, Passarella said “the proof’s in the pudding… We had zero soft tissue injuries, zero concussions on varsity and we just won a state championship.”
Senior Free Safety Avry Bellis has been playing football since he was six years old and joined the DePaul Prep football team his freshman year. Bellis said “The team has drastically improved over the years. We had a lot more energy and acted like we wanted it, and we did.”
This season was much different than the previous years for Bellis because of the energy and bond that the team had going into the season. He said “We never got mad at each other for messing up in practice, and in the game.” Bellis also emphasized that the team maintained a positive attitude, and instead of giving up after losing a game, they kept fighting to achieve their goal of winning the state championship. He said that the win “means a lot for me and the team because we all deserve this and we worked so hard for this accomplishment.”
Bellis hopes that their win will set the foundation for the future of football at DePaul Prep and that the next classes will continue to go on being successful, and bring more recognition to the program.
Senior Fernando “Juju” Rodriguez is the quarterback on the varsity team. He has been playing football for over eleven years and hopes to continue playing throughout college. Rodriguez said “The team brought into our program and put in the work in the off season, which showed on the field this year. Rodriguez also commented on the team’s bond and ability to work together saying “It is the closest bond of teammates I’ve had since I’ve been at DePaul. It’s felt like a brotherhood, it’s probably the most important thing I’ll get from playing football.” Rodriguez said he hopes that even though the football program is young, winning the state championship has helped set the tone for the future teams of DePaul Prep. He hopes that the program will continue to grow, and the team keeps making appearances at state and brings home more titles.
Jack Rich is a senior on the varsity team who plays on the defensive line. He has been playing football with DePaul Prep for the past four years. Rich echoed Bellis’s statement about the team’s bond, saying “It is definitely like a family on the team, it is going to be hard leaving.” Though the team is separating and moving on to college, Rich thinks that they will definitely stay friends, especially after winning the state championship. He said “We’re always contacting each other, always talking to each other…that will stick around for a long time.”
Rich says this season was very different from the others because they “gained a winners mentality and gained more confidence through their wins.” Rich said he hopes the program continues to grow and improve as the years go on. He said “we’re definitely becoming a football school. I just hope they carry out energy and confidence, but they also stay disciplined and obviously want to work.”
