Burzawa Steps Down From ETHS Grid Post

How do you create a championship culture when you don’t actually win any championships?

Mike Burzawa found a way, restoring pride in Evanston’s football program and fostering a brotherhood that made putting on the Wildkit uniform a special experience for everyone involved.

Burzawa --- affectionately known as “Buzz” --- decided last week to step down from his post as Evanston’s head football coach after 17 years at the helm. He will continue in his role as assistant athletic director at ETHS.

Known for his energetic and enthusiastic style of coaching, the 50-year-old Burzawa felt the flame of passion for the sport flickering over the past couple of seasons and decided to step down before it died out completely.

“l’ve always loved the game of football. I just felt it was time for this to end,” Burzawa said. “You know it in your heart and you know it in your gut when it’s time. I love the offensive strategy, the Xs and Os, and I’ve always loved working with the kids.

“I learned what the true meaning of coaching is. I wasn’t doing it for the wins and losses. Helping kids reach their goals by doing the right thing, making them mentally and physically stronger, that’s what matters. And they were all important to me from the guys like Naquan Jones (current NFL player) and Sebastian Cheeks to the guys on our special teams.

“It’s just time for me to hang up the whistle.”

Athletic Director Chris Livatino said the search for Burzawa’s successor will begin immediately and he hopes to have a head coach in place by February.

“We’re hoping to find someone who has all of the incredible qualities that Buzz has,” Livatino said. “We’re going to accept applications through January 6th and we’d like to have a new coach in place by February.

“Buzz is such a high character person and a great role model. My son (Colin, who started at quarterback the past two seasons) spent his whole life watching Buzz lead in the right way and it meant a great deal to me that Buzz stayed to coach him on the varsity. When Buzz came into my office (last) Wednesday and was so emotional, I knew what was about to happen.”

Evanston is coming off back-to-back 3-6 seasons and hasn’t qualified for the Illinois High School Association state playoffs since 2021. The Kits did reach postseason play nine times under Burzawa’s guidance.

His won-loss record at ETHS was 77-82 after a three-year run at now closed Driscoll Catholic, his alma mater, where he won three consecutive state championships and won 41 of 42 games. Before that, he was an assistant coach on four other state championship teams at Driscoll.

Burzawa turned the program around after Evanston endured a string of losing seasons under the previous head coach, Tony Johnson. And while other football coaches paid lip service to the idea of a “brotherhood” --- usually as a way to try to form an “us against them” mentality --- Burzawa and his coaching staff sincerely believed that every team every year was part of something bigger.

“I love Evanston, and I’ve been so blessed over the years here. That’s what made it such a difficult decision,” the coach said. “From Day 1 I wanted to create a brotherhood here and that’s what makes this place so special. Every player I’ve coached has been like a son to me. Loving them and caring for them and serving them and the Evanston community has been the best experience of my life.

“Kids care that you care. That’s far more important than the stuff that happens on the field. There’s nothing I want more than to see Evanston football be successful and I think the program and the culture are strong. We tried to make it fun, too. We brought it back to respectability, I think, and the future is bright.”

Part of creating the right culture also took place in the classroom. Since Burzawa arrived, the football program has claimed 10 IHSA awards for academic achievement and the same coach who never wears the state championship rings he earned at Driscoll displays those IHSA plaques proudly on his office wall.

Almost 200 ETHS players have moved on to play at the collegiate level in those 17 years, which suggests their experience under Burzawa was a good one no matter what their actual won-loss record was.

“His biggest impact for us came right off the bat when he was hired,” Livatino recalled. “Right away he put academics over athletics, and I didn’t expect that. He transformed what had been a clear deficit here to a plus for us.

“I know it was a punch in the gut when he was first hired and our second semester grades came out. He realized there was a problem and he realized the kids needed more academic support. He never wavered in his effort to get the kids all the help they needed.

“We’ve had some really incredible support from the alumni since he got here and connected with them. He galvanized support from them that was deeply needed, and his ability to fund-raise is really something, too. He never complained about not having good equipment, he just figured out a solution and slowly but surely, things got better.”

“We had 19 players who were ineligible that first year. I wanted a challenge, and I got one,” Burzawa admitted. “We put them in mandatory AM support three days a week and we worked hard to change the culture.”

On the field, Evanston’s best season under Burzawa was in 2018 when the Kits finished 7-3 and lost to Edwardsville 44-27 in the first round of the state playoffs. That team featured the school’s all-time leading receiver, Mike Axelrood, along with quarterback Ben Tarpey and running back Quadre Nicholson.

That loss came in a rare home appearance for the Wildkits in the playoffs. One reason the Wildkits never won a playoff game in Burzawa’s tenure is that they were usually a lower seed in the postseason and were forced to play on the road.

“Not winning and not advancing in the playoffs was painful,” he said. “I remember playing Fremd and we had a scoop and score (fumble recovery for a touchdown) that didn’t count one year.

“I have a lot of memories of a lot of games. I remember a big win we had over H-F (Homewood-Flossmoor) that I call the James Brown game because his father had passed away that week and he played great that night. Rendell Massie had a stellar game, too.

“There was that great comeback against Glenbrook South when we were down 31-3 and had to be perfect to come back and win it (34-31). And then when (defensive coordinator) Steve King passed away --- that was so tragic --- and we came back the next year and beat Crete-Monee in the Steve King Game. In 2018 we went to Barrington and beat the No. 4 ranked team in the state (32-13 behind three touchdowns from Malik Ross). And in 2015 there was a terrible memory playing at Maine South. We had the conference title in our fingertips and (current assistant coach) Griff Jensen clearly recovered a fumble, but they gave the ball to Maine South and we ended up losing it in overtime.”

Burzawa will help the new coach in the transition process whenever that decision is made.

“It’s a demanding position, one you can only do for so long, and all that responsibility adds up on you,” he said. “It’s been great to see the growth of the program and to get it back to where we wanted it to be. It’s been the best of times for me, and now a new chapter will start.”