Evanston HC opening
- Thread starter wickerpark wildcat
- Start date
No idea on front runners. I hope its considered a good job, especially because my son has one more year on the team. I think there are a lot of positives and probably a few challenges. Fingers crossed it will be a strong hire.
Is it fair to compare Evanston to OPRF?
Similar mix of socioeconomic backgrounds with their student body, but also a large private school in their backyard.
Assume the Kits have talent roaming the halls.
Similar mix of socioeconomic backgrounds with their student body, but also a large private school in their backyard.
Assume the Kits have talent roaming the halls.
IMO, Evanston being mediocre at football is one of the great mysteries. Too large of a school not to be able to find 60 athletic boys a class along with having a culture of solid athletics across all sports
I don't know the situation at OPRF well enough to compare, but it does feel similar. It seems people like to compare Evanston and Oak Park in general.
Yeah, its a bit surprising, but I think multiple factors go into it. To me, participation is the key ingredient (by end of this season, only ~40 kids were suiting up on varsity). Many Evanston parents don't let their boys play football, basketball is king at Evanston & almost no boys play both at varsity level, and then we definitely have Evanston kids go to Loyola & Notre Dame (even Mt. Carmel!) probably (at least partly) because we haven't competed at highest levels.
Definitely think there are a group of boys that can play who are returning next year, hope they are able to rally behind new coach (not a slight on Coach Buzz) & start some positive momentum. I'm also encouraging my son to work the hallways to encourage good athletes who don't have a fall sport to give football a try
They used to be one of the best programs around in the late 70s and 80s. I can remember fall of 1981 when 2-4 Maine East played 6-0 and #1 in Class 6A Evanston.... and Maine East managed to pull of a 13-12 upset in overtime. It was HUGE to beat Evanston at that time.
Last edited:
Still lead the state by a good margin in guys sent to the NFL. Looks like some big time talent went through there in mid 70's- early 80's as well as in early- mid 90's : https://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/high_schools.cgi?hs_state=IL
Last FBS kid however is Sebastian Cheeks, who is R-So at Wisconsin (transferred from UNC).
I don't have 1st hand experience, but I don't think the numbers are there in the same way as many suburbs with more successful hs programs. Soccer is popular, very competitive, and hs teams have been excellent. Same for basketball. Baseball has been quite strong in recent years. Need to find a way to get kids in Evanston dreaming of playing under the lights for the hometown school.
With Evanston's success in so many sports, I have to believe they would be a sleeping giant in football. Facilities, athletes, favorable schedule.
From your lips to God's ears, brother (is that still an expression?). Check out our weight room. Unbelievable.
Curious, would your former coach be a candidate? Obviously a ton of success there, but I don't know story on why he's no longer there.
Last edited:
Looks like a great facility. Not sure why Buzz didn't get over the hump wins wise. It seemed like he stabilized things pretty fast, but then it fizzled nearly as fast. Seems like a place with great opportunity though for sure. I know you deal with competetion for athletes, but it seems like there's a lot to sell there.
Never realized the massive difference between his two tenures.
Evanston:
Evanston:
| 2008-09 | 2 | 7 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2009-10 | 4 | 5 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2010-11 | 8A | Q | 6 | 4 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2011-12 | 8A | Q | 5 | 5 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2012-13 | 8A | Q | 5 | 5 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2013-14 | 8A | Q | 5 | 5 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2014-15 | 3 | 6 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2015-16 | 8A | Q | 6 | 4 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2016-17 | 8A | Q | 6 | 4 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2017-18 | 8A | Q | 6 | 4 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2018-19 | 8A | Q | 7 | 3 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2019-20 | 3 | 6 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2020-21 | 3 | 3 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2021-22 | 8A | Q | 6 | 4 | Mike Burzawa | ||
| 2022-23 | 4 | 5 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2023-24 | 3 | 6 | Mike Burzawa | ||||
| 2024-25 | 3 | 6 | Mike Burzawa |
I’d love to see E-town be great again. I’d Buzz couldn’t do it I’m not sure who can!
Everything I've heard about Buzz is positive. So it's not a slight at him, but maybe the skills he needed at Driscoll were different than at Evanston. Importantly he didn't "build" Driscoll (well at least not at HC, not sure how early he was there as an asset).
They were pretty solid 30ish years ago. Not sure if demographics and school institution priorities are too different or what, but it does seem they aren't "disadvantaged" in a traditional sense.
I'm not so sure on the favorable schedule part.
Played Laurence then Prospect and Palatine. Also confernce games with Maine South and Glenbrook South. Add in a rivalry game with New Trier.
If they really want a favorable schedule they should go play in the Upstate 8.
Football seems to be one of weakest sports in the CSL, but it's not terrible. The scheduling agreement with the MSL has been rough.... Basically has put 2 L's on every team (other than Maine South) for last several years, with a few exceptions.
I'm a little sensitive because my son was on that defense, but worst youve ever seen? C'mon, that's ridiculous. GBS ran the ball well (that's what they do), but not many missed tackles. The opening kickoff returned for a TD wasnt great tackling, but it was also a D1 kid on their side making a great play.
These facilities are better than most division 2 and 3 college campuses. I was blown away that StL beat Evanston so handily this year given the size of the student body. A coaching change could be the catalyst this program needs.
I don’t see why the shot at the upstate eight considering the last time Evanston played South Elgin, the score was 62-10 Storm. Granted the Storm lost to Maine South but so does almost everyone else. I will give you a pass on that.
My point was that Evanston’s athletes can, and do, compete with the CSL in every sport and most of their non-con games over the years have been against Chicago schools or the like (Zion).
Do you think they are out of their league? I don’t see it that way.
