McBride returns to Buffalo Grove High School a winner

Back in the late 1980s, Brian McBride strolled the halls of Buffalo Grove High School sporting a mullet and wearing a Chicago Sting T-shirt.

He walked those same halls Tuesday. Only this time teachers called him “Mr. McBride” and students asked for his autograph and snapped photos with their cellphones.

“It’s an honor to be back here, although it’s a little a freaky to have those behind me,” said McBride pointing to two huge photos of him playing soccer.

With his wife, Dina, by his side, McBride spent most of Tuesday at his former school, where he was honored with the Buffalo Grove High School 2011 Distinguished Alumni award. After a video montage of his soccer career — and hairstyles — were shown to the entire school, McBride, 38, took questions from a smaller group in the school’s theater.

There he mostly talked about life away from soccer. He told students to take their classwork seriously and explained his ritual of making the sign of the cross and kissing his wedding ring every time he scored a goal.

“I always wanted to have a family and I wanted to meet someone and love her for the rest of my life,” he said to a chorus of “awws” from the girls.

McBride said that when it comes to big decisions, the popular pick isn’t always the best one.

Take his choice between playing college soccer at the University of Connecticut or St. Louis University. Eventually, surrounded by his family and friends, McBride flipped a coin to decide which school he would attend. The coin came up in favor of Connecticut, but he went with St. Louis, a much smaller school.

“I called the St. Louis coach that day and said ‘I’m coming,’” he said.

After graduating from BGHS in 1990, McBride played in three World Cups and captained the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. He ended his career with the Chicago Fire last year and many consider him the greatest American soccer player ever to take the field.

Despite such an athletic career, McBride said he always felt he’d end up back at Buffalo Grove High School one way or another. “The plan was to come back here to teach and coach,” said McBride. “I had a lot of life-changing moments in this school.”

McBride is now starting a soccer academy and enjoying his three daughters Ashley, 10, Ella, 7, and Freya, 2 — who’s “third step was kicking a ball,” he added.

But he’s not researching women’s soccer colleges just yet.

“We’re not pushing them into anything just because I played,” he said.