Belvidere turns to wrestling coach Sean Donnelly to lead football program
Belvidere looked far searching for a new football coach but found him near.
After interviewing a wide variety of candidates to fill a tradition-rich position for a team that has struggled since the town opened a second high school, Belvidere wound up hiring wrestling coach Sean Donnelly for a second coaching position.
Donnelly will replace Tony Ambrogio, who moved to Missouri.
Ambrogio was 3-24 in three seasons at Belvidere, but had success earlier as an offensive-minded coach at Christian Life.
More: NIC-10 football coaching musical chairs; 1 coach hired, 1 fired and 1 moved to Missouri
“We spent two months dedicated to finding the ‘right fit.' This includes over twenty candidates interested in the job,” Belvidere athletic director Josh Sternquist said in a school news release, “some head coaches, coordinators, and assistant coaches with tons of experience, past and present. It was a very difficult process but we have found who we believe is the right fit.
“Belvidere is a unique city that has been defined by football in some cases due to its past success. This position is not just a football coach, but a member of the community, leader in the school, and someone who is a fit for the ‘Belvidere Way’ of doing things. We are not flashy, we will not be the biggest team, or have the most ‘scholarship’ players. That has never been Bucs Football. But, we will work and play with a pride and passion that leaves our fans and opponents saying, ‘man, those boys played hard tonight!’ The right guy to lead Belvidere Bucs Football is Sean Donnelly!”
More: 'We're here to fix it': Why Belvidere's once-great football program is totally rebuilding
Belvidere made the playoffs 26 times in 33 years between 1983 and 2015. The Bucs won back-to-back state titles under Vern Pottinger in 1993-94. But they have had only one winning season since going 9-3 in 2007, the year Belvidere North opened. The Bucs are 7-53 the last seven years. Belvidere is the second-smallest public school in the NIC-10 with 1,241 students and has often struggled in many sports since North divided the town’s students in half.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Belvidere hires 'right fit' Sean Donnelly coach Bucs football program
