John Holecek

John Francis Holecek (born May 7, 1972 in Steger, Illinois) is a former professional American football player who played linebacker for eight seasons in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, and the Atlanta Falcons. He went to college at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1995, went to the San Diego Chargers in 2001, and last to the Atlanta Falcons in 2002. Holecek played in the NFL for 8 seasons, and then returned to Chicago area. He currently coaches football at Loyola Academy - who won the 2015 Class 8A Illinois Football Championship. Holecek was a finalist for the 2015 National Coach of the Year award.

Marian Catholic career

Holecek was a three-sport athlete at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, excelling in wrestling, baseball, and football. Holecek was selected to a Chicago all-star baseball team that toured Europe his junior summer, but he decided to play football after receiving multiple Big Ten and division one scholarship offers.

Holecek played both tight end and middle linebacker for Marian coach Dave Mattio. Coach Mattio reflected on Holecek in a 2001 Times newspaper interview, "Most people don't know he was a good catcher and could have been a great wrestler," Mattio said. "Even then, I saw how he never quit and everything had to be perfect. He was a tough kid, I compare him to street kid because of his toughness and being hard-nosed on the field. He played hard and the thing about John, he could run for a big guy".

Holecek finished his high school career with 243 tackles, 13 sacks, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, two punts blocked, 16 receptions and 2 TD passes. Holecek was All-State and named the “Defensive Player of the Year” his senior year by a metro newspaper.

Holecek had his NFL jersey number 52 retired by his alma mater in 2000. Other retired Marian jerseys include Mike Prior and high school and one-season NFL teammate Rodney Harrison (San Diego Chargers).

Illinois career

After graduation from Marian Catholic High School, John played for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team from 1990 to 1994. Holecek was the Illini's co-Defensive Player of the Year in his red-shirt freshman season. Holecek made the All-Big in 1993 and 1994 teams, and was also a team captain. Holecek suffered multiple ACL injuries during his Illinois career, ending prior Butkus Award consideration.

Holecek was part of the linebacker foursome that gave Illinois the nickname "Linebacker U" in the 1990s. The Foursome also featured All-American and first-round, second and third overall draft picks, Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, as well as, Butkus award winner Dana Howard. Illinois led the nation in total defense for most of Holecek's senior season. Illinois participated in college bowl games each of Holecek's seasons.

Holecek is fifth on the Illinois career tackles list with 436 (above another Chicago area Illinois linebacker great Dick Butkus) and was twice named honorable mention All-America. Holecek graduated as a finance major with credits towards his master's degree. Holecek's arm-wrestling match with his childhood hero, legendary Walter Payton, was stated to be one of his greatest college football-related moments.

Lou Tepper, former Illinois coach and author of "Complete Linebacking" described John's aggressive linebacker playing style as "a natural presser" and called John "a fiery leader and competitor". Tepper praised Holecek in a college pre-season magazine, stating "He will bite, chew, and claw his way to make the play. He has incredible toughness and intelligence, and that is rare combination."

NFL career

Holecek was drafted in 1995 by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round if the NFL draft (144th pick) of the 1995 draft. Holecek was drafted by NFL Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy. Holecek also played for NFL coach Wade Phillips. According to a Los Angeles Times article, Holecek had the highest intelligence score of the 1995 draft class (140+ IQ).

Holecek had hoped to be drafted by his hometown Chicago Bears, and had discussions with the new head coach Dave Wannstedt. The Bears instead drafted Sean Harris from Arizona, who had a brief NFL tenure.

Holecek reported to the perennial Super Bowl bound Bills rookie camp in April 1995. He played six seasons with the Bills, averaging over 14 starts his last three seasons. Holecek flourished as an inside linebacker in Phillips' defensive 3-4 system. He also briefly played middle linebacker in a 4-3 alignment when injuries caused Coach Phillips to switch defenses mid-season. John emerged as a defensive stalwart and on-field coach for the Bills, notching an incredible 414 tackles from 1998-2000 and became known for his technique and football acumen.

Holecek started eight games over the course of his first three seasons with the Bills (1995-1998). After playing in only one game his rookie season due to injury, Holecek was ready to be a regular contributor to the team in 1996 before another knee injury suffered in the first preseason game forced him to spend the entire year on injured reserve. Holecek also pursued completion of his MBA degree these seasons. In 1997 Holecek provided the first glimpse of his promising future as he recorded 86 combined tackles in eight starts (14 appearances). Head coach Marc Levy stated decides later that Holecek was one of his favorite NFL players to coach.

In 1998 Holecek led the Bills with 133 tackles in his first season as a full-time starter and was named the team's recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. Holecek was credited with a career game high of 21 tackles during game film review of the Miami Dolphins Wild Card playoff game. That season the Bills improved to the fifth-rated run defense in the NFL—up from 15th the year before.

In 1999 Holecek tallied 116 combined tackles, including 63 unassisted, to go along with one sack, one interception, six passes defensed and two forced fumbles. Holecek's remarkable season also included a career-best 22-tackle outing in a Wild Card Playoff game played at Tennessee.

His finest campaign came in 2000 when he started all 16 games and had a career-high 165 combined tackles. He also intercepted one pass and deflected four others.

In his seventh season, Holecek was released very late in training camp in salary cap move by a new Bills head coach and GM. Holecek was quickly signed by the San Diego Chargers. The Bills who ranked 3rd in total defense in the league in 2000, finished 3-13 without Holecek and others in 2001. John played in San Diego for one partial season; he finished the last five games of the season on injured reserve as a knee problems limited him to just 11 injury-riddled appearances.

Holecek then signed with the Atlanta Falcons in his 8th season (2002). Holecek was reunited with Falcon defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who tutored Holecek for six seasons while serving as defensive coordinator or head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Holecek started the first 11 games for the play-off bound Falcons and was the team's second leading tackler before breaking his upper wrist/forearm. Holecek seriously re-injured his right arm late in the season finale—the team asked him to test to strength of the forearm (broken just five weeks earlier) in preparation for the playoffs. The avoidable second injury and the difficult resulting surgery was career ending.

Loyola Academy coaching career

After retiring from the NFL, Holecek returned to Illinois to work in finance and assist coaching high school football at St. Ignatius in Chicago. At the insistence of Nick Rassas (NFL safety, Notre Dame All-American, and Loyola Academy graduate) Holecek applied for the head coach position at Loyola Academy, a private college preparatory in Wilmette, Illinois. NFL coaches Marv Levy and Wade Phillips called the school's AD Pat Mahoney on Holecek's behalf. Mahoney remembered “You could see that he was a teacher of the game... He was smart and driven. He wasn’t going to do anything half-heartedly.” Holecek currently serves as Loyola's head varsity football coach and as the assistant athletic director.

Since taking the reins in 2006, Holecek’s teams have been to the playoffs every year, including six the last seven Illinois State 8A Semi-Finals or Finals and three of the last five Illinois State 8A Finals.

Holecek's teams have won at least 11 games for the last eight consecutive years since 2015. Loyola plays in the Chicago Catholic League Blue division. Loyola has won outright or shared five of the last six CCLB conference titles. Holecek's career coaching record is 113–24 with a 83% overall winning percentage; including over 90% of games in the last five full seasons (2011-2015).

In 2008, he coached Loyola to a Prep Bowl Championship at Soldier Field as the L.A. Ramblers defeated Lane Tech, 17–0.

The 2009 team played in the state semi-finals. The 2010 team was the start of Holecek's run on Chicago Catholic League Blue championships.

In 2011, he coached the Ramblers to a second-place finish in the Class 8A State Championship, losing to Bolingbrook High School 21-17 in inclement weather. This was only the school's third appearance in the state championship game and the first in 18 years.

In August 2012, Holecek brought his Ramblers to Dublin, Ireland to play Jesuit Dallas in Global Ireland Football Tournament 2012, featuring Notre Dame vs Navy as the main draw. That same year John Holecek joined Dick Butkus in making an instructional video one of one Butkus's websites to emphasize tackling with proper form to reduce the risk of head injury. Loyola was a state semi-finalist in 2012.

Loyola was the 8A state championship runner-up in 2013, after losing to Naperville Central 13-10 in the title game.

In April 2014, Holecek's coaching mentor Marv Levy visited Loyola as part of the NFL "Heart of a Hall of Famer" program. Levy's lessons were laced with words like “perseverance”, “work ethic”, and “preparation”, hallmarks of Holecek's playing career and coaching tenure at Loyola.

Loyola Academy won the Chicago Prep Bowl 14-7 over Chicago Curie at Soldier Field on November 28, 2014. Playing not the road with their third-string QB, LA had previously lost a close state playoff game against the eventual state champions.

In late September 2015, John Holecek notched his 100th coaching victory—becoming the first Illinois high school football coach to reach 100 wins in so short of a career span (9 1/2 seasons). At the close of the regular season in October 2015, Loyola ranked number 1 in the state of Illinois in all major football polls after completing a 9-0 undefeated regular season, by way of a 34-point average margin of victory (24-point lowest margin of victory). Holecek told the Chicago Tribune, "We haven't thrown one ball in the fourth quarter". Loyola won the 2015 Chicago Catholic League Blue conference title after a 49-21 victory over defending 7A State Champion Mt. Carmel.

In November 2015, Loyola won their first four playoff games to go to 13–0, including a dominating (early third quarter running clock) victory over the defending 8A champion Stevenson 49–0, a come-from-behind victory over Homewood Flossmor (who was rated #1 in the state for the first eight weeks of the season) in a televised game attended by over 6,000 fans, and a close semi-final victory over Palatine in the snow. Loyola Academy ranked in the top 20 nationally by Maxpreps Experts, Freeman, and USA Today and number 6 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 Computer Rankings. On November 28, 2015, Loyola played Marist for the state title and utilized an aggressive defensive scheme with many blitz packages. LA defeated Marist 41–0 (with a running clock imposed) to win the IHSA class 8A State Championship, extending its season record to 14-0. For the 2015 season LA outscored its opponents 558–123, won nine games by 30 points or more, and had six shut-outs.

Lovie Smith contacted Holecek about a position on his new coaching staff at the University of Illinois in late March 2016. Holecek declined citing his younger family and Loyola ties (and short contract length).

Loyola finished the regular 2016 season 9-0 as the Ramblers (#1 ranked team in Illinois) defeated #2 ranked Mount Carmel early in the season and #3 ranked Brother Rice to close the season (both games were on the road). Loyola players were paid a visit by NFL legend Marv Levy prior to the beginning the 2016 8A IHSA playoffs (#1 seed). At the end of October, Holecek's Ramblers ranked #5 nationally (USA Today Super 25 Computer Rankings) and had a 26-game win streak, plus a 24-game home field winning streak that dates back to 2012.

Awards

University of Illinois, Bruce Capel Award as the team’s "Most Courageous Player" in 1994.

NFL Ed Block Courage Award in 1998. Award presented to a player who personifies courage, strength, leadership and pursuit of excellence.

NFL Defensive Player of the Week, for a stellar Monday Night Football game vs the Miami Dolphins in October 1999. Holecek first registered a jarring sack on Dan Marino that led to Gabe Northern's fumble return for a touchdown, then with Buffalo clinging to a 23-18 lead late, Holecek registered his first career interception. Facing a three-receiver set, Holecek dropped back in zone defense, and picked off Dan Marino. Holecek said "obviously, with Dan Marino, it's a special play."

In September 2011, Holecek was inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall-of-Fame. Holecek received accolades for his grit and determination and for dealing with adversity by successfully rehabbing three major knee injuries. Other inductees included Jim Calhoun, Bobby Hull, Glenn Doc Rivers, Barry Sanders and former Notre Dame and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rocky Bleier.

In August 2014, the Butkus Foundation honored Holecek at a Chicago Bears game for his work has a Chicago youth sports leader.

Presented the Ray Meyer Coach Award in 2015 at the Giant Awards — the former Chicago Park District superintendent Ed Kelly’s sports program that honors accomplished Chicagoans in various fields.

In January 2016, Holecek was named one of six finalists for the 2016 U.S. Army All-American Bowl National Coach of the Year award. The award honors the nation’s top high school football coach for exceptional coaching abilities and leadership skills, as well as acknowledging his role as a positive influence to young Americans on and off the field.

Also that month, LA was honored with the 11th Annual MaxPreps "Tour of Champions" award presented by the Army National Guard. The award honors select state champions who are also national ranked according to MaxPreps national computer rankings.

Philanthropy

Holecek served as the Buffalo Bills spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Holecek was involved in the Western New York Children’s Literacy Program "Rush For Reading".

Holecek was reported to be a financial contributor to The University of Illinois.

Holecek's Loyola Academy teams volunteer and visit Misericordia, often playing pick-up games with children and adults with developmental disabilities. Loyola annually hosts Misericordia at a fall home game.

Holecek's Loyola Academy team participated in the 2016 Special Olympics Chicago: Polar Plunge

External links

• Professional Statistics
• NFL Profile
• High School Info
• Vision of Greatness
• Loyola Coaching Decision
• Loyola Info
• Fighting Illini
• MNF Player of the Week
• Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
• U of I Where Are They Now
• Favorites to Win
• Holecek on Lovie Smith
• Interest in Joining Illinois Staff