Belief can be very hard to come by when a program is as down in the dumps as Tinley Park football was heading into last fall.
The Titans went 1-8 in 2021 in Josh O’Shea’s final season as the head coach. In 2022, under new coach Chris Vitt, the team bottomed out at 0-9.
But Vitt, a Tinley Park graduate who had been an assistant or lower level coach in four sports for his alma mater before taking the reins of the football program, remained optimistic. And he convinced his players that better times were ahead.
Just ask Carlos Hazelwood, a senior defensive lineman who has signed with Toledo.
“Even after we went 0-9, coach Vitt helped us fight through adversity,” Hazelwood said. “He believed in us when we didn’t believe in ourselves. He put us in positions to be successful.”
The Titans went 5-5 in the fall, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
It’s a turnaround that deserves some recognition, and Vitt recently got some when he was named the 2023 Athletico Coach of the Year.
Athletico, a physical therapy and athletic training company, solicited nominations from across the country before choosing Vitt.
“It’s an awesome award to get, not only for me but for the school, the program, the community and everything,” Vitt said. “It’s definitely more of a program award than just an award for me.”
In my first interaction with Vitt after he took over the job in 2022, he told me he was going to start Davis Brooks at quarterback. Brooks was a former soccer player who had been the football team’s kicker in 2021.
Kicker to quarterback? It was a fascinating story I jumped on immediately.
Though it did not end up paying off in the win-loss column, it showed Vitt was willing to make bold moves instead of just sticking with the status quo. In my mind, that is necessary when trying to shake up a program.
And it was consistent with Vitt’s bottom-line approach — to get the best athletes in the school on the football field.
“My big thing was shaking the hallways here at Tinley Park,” Vitt said. “We have athletes but the issue has been getting these kids out and getting them involved.
“My big thing is, ‘Get involved. This is your school. Your diploma is going to have the same name on it as mine. Let’s have some pride in your school. Instead of being in the dumps, let’s do something about it.'”
Vitt played football at Tinley Park under longtime coach Lou Narish before being coached by Willie Trimmer for his senior season. He played baseball for Ron Anderson. All three contributed to his desire to become a coach.
Vitt has coached baseball, track and girls basketball for his alma mater, drawing from every experience.
“The year I did freshmen girls hoops, I had a team of six girls,” he said. “That teaches you to kind of think on your feet. I’m big on trying to pick up different things from every experience and always trying to learn.
“I’ve always kept a little cheat sheet and notebook on my phone and computer about things that I’d want to implement if I ever took a head coaching job. So, this is really lifelong work that I have had building toward this.”
Last fall, after starting 2-4, Tinley Park was 4-4 heading into a must-win game in Week 9 against rival Oak Forest. The Titans prevailed 26-16, punching their ticket to the Class 5A playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Morris.
“It was cool,” Vitt said of the Oak Forest game. “You could tell the kids were definitely nervous, coaches were nervous going into that one.
“To me, the season had already been a success just with the turnaround in the kids’ attitudes. That’s what I was looking for. Winning that game, I was really happy for the kids.”
For Hazelwood, it was the ultimate redemption and the Titans’ opportunity to finally quiet the naysayers, even those inside their school.
“I told everybody we were going to do it, and now that it happened, there’s no more talking,” Hazelwood said. “It’s written in stone.
“I didn’t doubt myself, but I hear all the outside noise from people at school. Teachers, security guards, everyone was laughing at us and clowning us. That just added fuel to our fire.”
There’s nothing to laugh about now. Vitt and the Titans have given everyone reason to believe.
