Adam Nissen out as St. Laurence football coach
A year after leading St. Laurence to its first state championship game in 44 years, Adam Nissen is out as St. Laurence football coach.The school announced in a statement Friday that Nissen’s coaching contract will not be renewed, ending his six-year tenure.
“I’m still in complete shock,” Vikings senior running back Harley Rizzs said. “There’s still a lot of confusion going on. We don’t really know why (this happened).”
“We thank Coach Nissen for his commitment and contributions to the Viking Football program,” athletic director Tim Chandler said in the statement. “As our program prepares to compete at a higher classification next season, we will begin the search for new leadership to build upon our strong football tradition and continue developing outstanding student-athletes at St. Laurence.”
Nissen led the Vikings to the Class 4A title game in 2023, losing 59-38 to unbeaten Rochester. It was St. Laurence’s first state-final berth since finishing second in Class 5A in 1979. The Vikings’ only other trip to state was in 1976, when they went 13-0 and won the Class 5A title.
The Vikings finished 8-4 this season, losing 26-14 in the Class 4A quarterfinals to eventual champ DePaul Prep.
St. Laurence navigated around significant injuries to two of its top players, Illinois State-bound quarterback Chase Kwaitkowski and Rizzs.
“As a team, we feel it all got thrown away,” Rizzs said. “We put a lot of work in for it to all go down from here. … I felt I had a good relationship with him. He was like family to me.”
Nissen was 35-28 with three IHSA playoff berths in his six seasons. His .556 winning percentage is the best for a Vikings football coach since Bob Fabrizio was 19-13 (.594) from 1986 to ’88.
Rizzs praised the culture Nissen developed at St. Laurence.
“It was probably one of the best brotherhoods you could have in a program,” Rizzs said.
It’s the second time in less than a decade that St. Laurence has parted ways with a coach who had significant playoff success. Current De La Salle coach Harold Blackmon took the Vikings to two semifinals and one quarterfinal between 2015 and ’17 before being let go after the 2018 season.
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