Football: From Rolling Meadows to Libertyville, here’s a look at new coaches in northwest suburbs

Devonte Amos will be the new Rolling Meadows head football coach this season, one of several in the northwest suburbs.

Amos will be taking over a program that qualified for the playoffs last year for the first time in three seasons. That team was headed up by former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, who resigned to take the coaching reins at St. Viator.

Amos was a three-year starter for the Mustangs from 2014-2016. He played college football at Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He teaches at Buffalo Grove, where he has been a four-year assistant football coach.

“This is definitely a full circle moment for me,” Amos said. “To be back in program that means so much to me and a program that I played for. I have a lot of passion for that. I played under coach (Matt) Mishler and we had a lot of success. I am going to take some of my knowledge form those years and bring it back.”

Amos and Gould are just two of the six Cook and Lake county head football coaching changes for next season. And Amos is not the only high school alum to take over at his alma mater.

Round Lake recently hired Randi Dey as their new head coach. He will succeed Matt Milazzo, who resigned after two seasons.

Dey, who graduated from Round Lake in 2000, joined the Army, and served for five years. After his service he spent the last five years as the defensive backs coach at Carmel and previously coached at Lakes and Waukegan.

Dey takes over a program that is on a 26-game losing streak. But Dey says that he has seen numbers grow each week in his team’s offseason workouts.

“Our short-term goal is to get better,” Dey said. “And that comes from getting the kids to buy in. They are coming to the workouts. We want to get better at one thing every day and one thing every week as long as we are improving. And so far, we have been successful.”

Dey said his route back to Round Lake took some time.

“I tried getting into Round Lake for years,” Dey said. “And I had all but given up. I was going to be done coaching after my son (Donovan) graduated from Carmel. But then my old left guard, Brian Peterson, who is the principal here, called me. And here I am.”

Ryan Gronwick takes over for Wheeling’s JeMarcus Moody, who resigned after two seasons. Gronwick was a member of the Wildcats staff the past two seasons. He also has four years experience coaching at Morton High School in Cicero.

“Coming in knowing the kids is a huge deal,” Gronwick said. “What I hope for at the end of the season is that we can achieve what we are able to. I want us to experience growth offensively and defensively and that we are competing in every game.”

Gronwick said he will lean on his experiences at Morton, where the program went from winless seasons to being competitive in the years he was there.

“Morton was very similar and got to experience a lot of growth,” Gronwick said. “I have seen it happen. I have seen a program that struggles to get kids and have seen programs that had success. I am hoping to bring what my experience of that to Wheeling.”

Shane McNally will be the new head coach at Maine East after Jerald Bibbs resigned to pursue a coaching opportunity at Kankakee. Bibbs had coached Maine East to its most successful season since 2004 with the Blue Demons winning three games last season.

McNally was the offensive coordinator on that staff. His offense was the highest scoring Blue Demons team since 2013. McNally grew up in Florida and played college football in Iowa. He was a head coach at Proviso West and Fenton for one season each.

“It is really a blessing to be here,” McNally said. “The support staff is second to none. I believe we are on our way up here. I wouldn’t have stepped into this role if I didn’t believe it either. On the first day of morning workouts, we had 45 kids. We had 10 last year. I believe it can be done here.”

Libertyville just recently announced on social media platforms X and Facebook that longtime assistant coach Tim Budge will be the Wildcats’ new coach. Budge will replace Mike Jones, who announced during the football season last year that he would be stepping down.

This will be his Budge's 26th year at Libertyville. He was previously a freshman coach, then a sophomore head coach and promoted to the varsity in 2013 where he was named the defensive coordinator.

“I worked for two great guys before me in Randy Kuceyeski and Mike Jones,” Budge said. “I loved working for them and learning. Sometimes you don’t want to get a job too early and rather wait. I feel that is true here. With the mentoring I have received from them and other people in the school, I am ready. This is a great place to coach and I know the players, their families and the community.”

There is another coaching change that does not directly affect area schools.

Former Elk Grove head coach Miles Osei is the new head coach at Evanston. Osei had left Elk Grove and spent the last two seasons at Kankakee. The former Prospect and University of Illinois star takes over an Evanston program that has not been to the playoffs since 2021.

Evanston will play Fremd, Hoffman Estates and Maine South this season, which has its first games Aug. 29.