An Open Letter to the Prospect Nation

Parting Ways is Hard to Do.

5 min readApr 24, 2014

Dream On

I think it was about 5 years ago, the legendary Prospect Football Coach, Brent Pearlman (3 state championships) invited me on staff to help coach the freshman team. Not a paid gig, but I didn’t care. It came around the time that I had been coaching my boys in youth football for about 5 years, and I was looking for the challenge and opportunity to move up to the next level.
Learn from the master so to speak.

Moving Up to the Big Leagues. Freshman A Team!

What made it very appealing, was Brent’s encouragement that after a year with the freshman, I would move up to the Varsity and have the incredible opportunity to be with my son, Devin, on the sidelines during his high school playing career.

All you Dads out there reading this, can sure agree what a cool and lifelong memory that would be. Especially if you have been coaching them up since they have put pads on.

Coach planted a seed that has never stopped growing inside me.

Dream Off

Unfortunately, Brent left for Wheeling HS the next year and that opportunity to coach on Varsity, or at least move up with the kids I had just invested in at the freshman level, was politely rebuffed. It was very disheartening to say the least. I was graciously offered to stay at the freshman level, but that conflicted with my goals and family schedule with sons playing Saturdays.

You learn all the time that when head football coaches move on/get fired, staff usually does too. So I don’t blame the new staff for not wanting me or the risks that might be associated with a parent on staff. The potential political firestorm that can happen is very evident.

But each year I kept asking anyway, because it looked like the only opportunity to coach at the HS level would be thru the Prospect program.
I tried applying for the St. Viator head coaching job, but was turned down primarily because of my lack of any varsity level coaching experience.

For whatever reason, I couldn’t quite make a fit when I would try to get back in the door with the Knights. And folks, I get it. I really do. Because when I coach youth football, I said no a lot too. Because one nut-ball dad can ruin the whole mojo and rhythm to a team you are head coaching. So I too am very cautious who I add to my staff each year.

“Friends or Family Members as assistant coaches only” was a hard and fast rule!

Dream Back On?

About the time my son Devin was a Jr., it was 2012, the Rolling Meadows Varsity Football Coach, Matt Mishler recognized my youth Arlington Cowboys coaching shirt at the Glazier clinic and introduced himself and offered to help the youth program in anyway possible. As we met over a beer after the clinic, we hit it off football wise and we discussed the potential opportunity of me volunteer coaching on Varsity there that upcoming season.

Needless to say, I was thrilled and also, just the fact of being wanted felt great. I thought it was a great opportunity to finally get my feet wet in high school Varsity football. But after Julie and I weighed it, obviously missing Devin’s games was too much to ask. So dream postponed…

Dream Delayed

Matt and I kept in touch each year and the offer always stood. Regardless if my kids were at Prospect. He seemed to appreciate the knowledge and background I could bring to the program and one year even blessed me with the opportunity to speak to the team before a big game. What an honor. Several of the players were kids I had coached for or against at some time in the past.

2 years ago, we as a family did a similar move that would prove to be a foreshadow of the challenges we faced in this move. We left the Cowboy program for the challenge/itch to play for something bigger. It was a very hard decision because of the loyalty and friends/families we had/have with the great Cowboy Program.

We put together a renegade travel football team with son Asher and 9 of the kids I have coached for numerous years, and used the RM youth football program as a platform to compete for a national championship (lost in the first round of play-offs!). Still a great experience I believe.

QB from the start…

The team was supported greatly by the RMHS Football Program by chance. As I learned the many nuances of the triple option and of the short passing game from Matt, our coaching relationship deepened.

So, with the writing on the wall, that I would never get to coach on the same team with by 2 younger sons coming up thru the high school football ranks, we as a family decided to take a huge risk and sell our house to move into the RM district.

1st obstacle was finding a home that Julie would be comfortable in, and quite frankly, its not as nice as our current home. It’s very emotional leaving the home you raised your family in, but it’s a downsize and less debt. That makes sense when you a growing a start up business like we have on our hands with Players U and with selling our family roofing business.

Dream Chasers

We are a football family, us O’Hara’s. We are afflicted with that disease.

Football in the Blood

One thing that I have been most affirmed and enjoy most deeply is being a football coach. It’s my passion to coach football. It feels like a sweet spot for me and believe I have a lot to contribute in that realm. Playing since 8 years old and then at higher and higher levels, has given me a skill set that matches with the needs of the young men now playing this sport and trying to figure out life.

It was an extremely difficult decision with a lot of emotion and second guessing and getting tons of friend/family advice, but we have agreed to move forward together as a family to let me keep chasing that dream.

Do Hard Things

The hardest part…
Knowing that we are letting down and maybe disappointing some loyal Prospect families, that I have either coached their sons or we are very close friends, makes the decision most painful.

Knowing we owe a debt of gratitude for all our Boys’ successes thus far to the teachers and coaches at Prospect High.

Knowing that many might look at us as an enemy/traitor right now.

But we want Prospect success and will continue to root for the Knights in every situation with the exception of the games against Meadows ;-).

Dream Come True?

We hope/pray that many will see it from the angle of father/son coaching opportunity/blessing that happens to only a very few lucky souls in this lifetime.

That is our biggest hope.

Thanks again Prospect Nation for all the love and support you have afforded us.

The O’Hara’s