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Sports

Barry Named Hinsdale South Football Coach

Mike Barry becomes the Hornets' new varsity football head coach after serving as head coach the past three seasons at Evergreen Park.

After enjoying most of his football success on the defensive side, new Hinsdale South varsity head coach Mike Barry seized the opportunity early in his coaching career to become an offensive coordinator.

“I was trying to grow to be a head coach someday. Some of my football mentors said you need to know more than one side of the football,” Barry said. “I picked an offense really that I thought was extremely difficult to defend. Being a defensive mind, I looked and said, ‘Man, this is hard to stop.’ ”

Barry will be bringing that high-powered offense, plenty of enthusiasm and the intent to build up the Hornets’ program after previously doing the same over the past three seasons as the head coach for Evergreen Park.

Barry’s coaching position was announced Tuesday after his hiring as a Hinsdale South social studies teacher was approved by the District 86 school board Monday night.

Barry introduced himself to the players at the school Friday morning. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife and young son but said he plans to relocate to the area.

“I’m very excited. Obviously, coming in there’s a lot to learn about the community,” Barry said. “The goals for the program ultimately are we want to win the conference and we want to practice on Thanksgiving. The reason is you’re going to the state championship. Those are lofty goals. There’s no question about it. Are we going to achieve them in one year? I don’t know, but we will achieve them.”

A 1992 graduate of Downers Grove North who then starred at Kent State University, Barry replaces Alex Bitto, who resigned after four seasons as head coach. The Hornets were 3-6 (2-4 in West Suburban Conference Gold Division) in 2010 and have not won more than three games in a season since their last playoff appearance in 2005.


Barry coached with Barron Collier and Golden Gate high schools in Naples, Fla., before coming to Evergreen Park in 2008. Winless in 2007, the Mustangs were 1-8 in Barry’s first season, improved to 4-5 in 2009 and were 5-4 last season. They were eligible for the state playoffs but their 36 playoff points (number of combined victories by opponents) missed the cut of  39.

Evergreen Park had the smallest 2010 IHSA official enrollment (931) in its South Suburban Conference Red Division, just like Hinsdale South (1,777) as the smallest school in the WSC Gold.

“We decided to go with Mike because of his head coaching experience,” Hinsdale South coach Tim Feigh said. “He took over a program very similar to our program and in three years they had gone from 1-8 to 5-4. The thing we’re looking for is to get our football program back to the state playoffs and get into the community and work with feeder programs. And he’s going bring to us what we think is an exciting offense.”

Barry will be the Hornets’ offensive coordinator as he was at Evergreen Park. He initially got the concept for his no-huddle, four-receiver offense from Appalachian State, the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivsion (formerly I-AA) champions from 2005-07. It’s also similar to the high-powered offense of Oregon, which reached last season’s NCAA Bowl Championship Series title game.

In 2010, Evergreen Park scored at least 40 points in three games and at least 21 in two others. Hinsdale South scored a combined 91 points in two victories and 77 over the other seven games.

“It’s going to be fast paced, fun for the kids, high energy. The way we practice is that same basic concept. We try to get to the plays off very quickly,” Barry said.

“It really features athletes, allows athletes to shine. It allows for some flexibility as well. If you have a good quarterback, it allows you to throw the football well. If you have a good running back, it allows you to run the ball well. If you have both, you’re really set.”

Still, Barry actually made a name for himself in the sport as a linebacker. He was a two-year All-WSC Silver selection for Downers Grove North, which reached the 1990 Class 6A state championship game but lost to Thornton and lost his senior year to eventual state champion East St. Louis in the 6A quarterfinals. The 1991 Trojans won their playoff opener 24-6 at Hinsdale South.

“I was here (at Hinsdale South) for a all-star game. We practiced here. They played (the game) at North Central College,” Barry said. “I remember playing a playoff game here in the snow. They had a really good running back (Jeff Swift), and I actually played in the all-star game with him.”

Barry then was a four-year starter at Kent State, earning second-team All-Mid American Conference honors in 1995 as a senior defensive end and first-team Academic All-MAC honors in 1995 after being honorable mention in 1994.

Also as a senior, Barry was awarded the Jack Lambert Cup as the team’s most improved defensive player. An NFL Hall of Fame linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers who starred at Kent State, Lambert, then in his early 40s, came to one of the team's practices -- and then participated.

“He came out with his AFC Pro Bowl helmet, put it on, no pads, took tape from his knuckles to his elbows, took his front teeth out and got in the huddle and practiced,” Barry said. “He was ripping across the face of guards and yelling at guys. I’m in the huddle with this guy and it was just real surreal.”

As Barry put it, after going to school in suburban Cleveland, the chance to be a student teacher in Florida was quite enticing. “You don’t see the sun very much (at Kent) so I jumped at the opportunity,” Barry said.

He first worked as a defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Barron Collier, a perennial power that made four playoff appearances and won two district titles while he was there. Players he coached included current Minnesota Vikings right guard Anthony Herrera.

Barry then moved to newly built Golden Gate and went from assistant head coach to interim head coach his final season. Halfway through that tenure, he also switched from defensive coordinator to an offensive coach.

“We had trailers you were practicing out of. That was our locker room,” Barry said. “I really learned a lot about a highly established program (Barron Collier), how to build programs, starting from scratch. I’ve seen both extremes and then, building at Evergreen Park, I think has helped prepared me for this.”

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