Football: Stortz leaves Lake Zurich in terrific shape

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Seen here in 2010, Lake Zurich head coach Bryan Stortz thanks his team for their great effort against St. Rita in the Class 7A state semifinals. Stortz won 62 games during his six-year stint at Lake Zurich. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:01AM

When Bryan Stortz arrived at Lake Zurich High School, he served as a defensive coordinator for the sophomore team under head coach Gary Simon.

For Simon, a veteran and versatile football assistant and the head varsity baseball coach, it was rewarding to watch the way Stortz matured and grew as a coach over his 11 years at Lake Zurich. For the last six seasons, Stortz was the varsity football team’s head coach. During this stretch, the Bears went 62-16, won an IHSA state title and played for the championship two other times.

“I think he has the best mind in the state as far as organization and what needs to be done,” Simon said. “He has a mind for the both the offense and defensive parts of the game.”

Simon chuckled recalling all the years he took his two sons to the IHSA state football championship and watched from the stands.

“I remember saying to myself I (wonder) if I’ll ever be down there,” he said. “Sure enough, we were there three times and it was quite a thrill. Bryan is a perfect head coach.”

When Stortz became the head coach, one of his first calls was to veteran coach David Proffitt. He recruited Profitt to be the Bears’ defensive coordinator. Profitt said it was an easy decision to join Stortz at Lake Zurich.

“He had a course of action for what he felt needed to be done for Lake Zurich to be a contender year in and year out,” Proffitt said. “Each year, he got better and better at the way he handled relationships with players, parents, the press, other coaches and the administration.”

Stortz, the Dean of Students at Lake Zurich, loved his experience with the school and the community. It was going to take a unique situation for him to leave, which is what was offered by Rock Island earlier this month.

Stortz has ties to the area having played defensive back for Augustana College in the late 1990s. In addition to a reported increase in salary, it’s a chance to take an already established program to the next level of success and work during the day as the school’s director of development.

“As the Director of Development, you can devote your time almost entire to the kids,” Stortz said. “I’ll be an ambassador for the school and look for creative and resourceful (ideas and programs) to benefit the school. There aren’t a lot of places with that type of situation.”

At Lake Zurich, Stortz said he benefited significantly from his group of assistant coaches.

“I knew that it was in my interest to surround myself with as many good coaches as possible,” he said. “Those guys did so much to take the program in the direction we needed to go.”

Proffitt said Stortz did an excellent job of giving the entire staff freedom to coach.

“He allowed coaches to coach,” Profitt said. “The assistants were allowed to make mistakes and get better and that creates ownership that is filtered down to the players.”

Stortz is proud of what his last team at Lake Zurich accomplished. The Bears advanced to the semifinals of the state playoffs.

“I thought this season was very typical of what we’ve come to expect,” he said. “As we went through adverse situations, the players and coaches kept believing in themselves. They had a mindset that they could get it done and they did so in some very challenging situations.”