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Football Player of the Year

Ryan’s versatility propelled Bulldogs

By Ken Karrson

Jack-of-all-trades, master of none — that rather derisive description has sometimes been pinned on individuals who’ve proven competent at more than one thing.

Whether said out of jealousy or simply as a means to jumpstart a debate, such a tag is often unfair. Among those who would strongly disagree with criticism of that sort is Richards football coach Tony Sheehan.

That’s because during his two years as Bulldogs boss, Sheehan has had a certified jack-of-alltrades in his midst. And this guy was found lacking in absolutely nothing.

One of Sheehan’s favorite terms to describe Jon Ryan is “freak.” He doesn’t mean it in any sort of Frankensteinian way, although it would probably be safe to say Ryan was built to be the perfect football beast.

As a junior in 2008, he might have been Richards’ top defender as he patrolled the secondary. He also was quite the capable punter, as he averaged better than 40 yards per kick.

Oh, and along the way, he did a little quarterbacking. Ryan was good a year ago; this past season, he was exceptional.

In leading the Bulldogs back from a playoff-less campaign to a 9-2 record and South Suburban Conference Red championship in 2009, Ryan achieved a rare 1,000-yard double: He not only passed for 1,545 yards and 15 TDs while completing 54 percent of his throws, Ryan also rushed for 1,001 yards and 13 scores. He averaged 9 yards per carry as he did so, and for good measure, he supplied Richards with 13 twopoint conversion runs.

“You put him on that field and he wants to take it to you,” Sheehan said. “Friday nights, he just took over. He is one hell of a competitor and he was one of the best athletes on the field.

“He’s one of those kids who’s got that ‘it’ [factor] and he was the leader of the band. Everyone knew it and they fed off that. Everyone said, ‘Jon’s going to take us where we have to go.’”

One of those places the Bulldogs traveled was back among Illinois prep football’s elite. After missing out on the state tournament last fall for the first time in nearly a quarter century, Ryan led a bigtime rebound.

“That was definitely a big motivator,” Ryan said, referring to the 4-5 ledger of 2008. “That did frustrate us, so guys were really dedicated [about reversing our course]. We were in the weight room all the time, and it was a big step up from last year.

“It feels special to contribute that to the program. We kind of got Richards’ name back.”

And Ryan did more than a little toward making his own name pretty well-known, too. For his role in returning the Bulldogs to gridiron prominence, Ryan has been chosen as this paper’s Player of the Year for 2009.

Not living by football alone

His exploits on the football field are sufficiently documented, but Ryan did not live by the pigskin alone. In fact, when he took off the Richards uniform for the final time on Nov. 7, it also marked the end of his career in the fall sport.

From here on, baseball is his calling. Ryan, who’s been a member of the Bulldogs’ diamond varsity since his freshman year, has signed a letter of intent with the University of Illinois-Chicago, and there’s no going back: Seeing as how UIC does not operate a football program, Ryan couldn’t line up again under center even if he wanted to do so.

“He’s a stud in baseball,” Sheehan said. “His talent’s untapped, and it’ll be interesting to see how good he’ll be now that he only has to concentrate on one sport.”

In today’s athletic climate, specialization has become popular, particularly for those persons who are pretty set on what activity they want to pursue beyond high school. Given Ryan’s demonstrated abilities as both a pitcher and hitter for Brian Wujcik’s club in the spring, did skipping senior football season ever enter his mind?

“I like both and I still wanted to be on the [football] team,” Ryan said without hesitation. “You just put the same effort into both sports, and playing both helped me out a lot. I got stronger with football workouts, and sprints and conditioning [exercises] with baseball made me faster.”

Speed was a definite asset for Ryan on the gridiron. Sheehan recalled an overtime play that his signal-caller made in Week 2 against Lockport as a prime example of Ryan’s fleet-footedness — by keeping a fourth-and-18 play alive long enough with his legs, he was able to finally get the Bulldogs into the end zone by completing a pass.

“Ryan made a run that was just ridiculous,” Sheehan said. “He got away from guys, bounced off them … that signified what he’s all about. There was no play he ever gave up on.”

Ryan credited an increased number of footwork drills — which included practicing rollouts and going over bags — with improving his ability to move around in the pocket.

“Some things just come natural,” he said. “But you have to work on other things.”

Ryan’s evolution as a quarterback didn’t only involve the physical, however. It was also influenced by maturity, as well as the willingness of Sheehan and the other coaches to entrust him with an increasing amount of responsibility.

“[Having] experience definitely helped me a lot,” Ryan said. “Last year, I was trying to force a lot of things, but the coaches worked with me on reading coverages and I trusted my receivers.”

And that trust remained strong even at those times when the conditions were less than ideal. On a rain-soaked field in the final week of the regular season, for instance, Ryan ignored the negative elements and threw passes of 39 and 41 yards to give Richards its first two touchdowns in an eventual 34-6 win over host TF South.

“The field was pretty sloppy,” Ryan recalled. “Our feet kind of stuck in the ground, but we just went out and played.”

That victory, plus a road triumph over Rock Island in Round 1 of the Class 6A playoffs the following week earned additional respect for the Bulldogs, whose accomplishments prior to that had been inexplicably underrated. However, while football fans were a little slow to catch on to Richards’ revival, Ryan and his teammates realized much earlier in the season that things would be better than before.

The aforementioned matchup at Lockport ended in a one-point defeat, but their ability to stand toe-to-toe with a Class 8A program on the road convinced the Bulldogs of what might be possible.

“At the beginning of the week [while] preparing for Lockport, we said, ‘This is the game where we’ll see how good we can be,’” Ryan said. “It was kind of an eye-opening thing. We learned we can play with those kind of teams.”

Easing the burden

As a junior, Ryan made 62 tackles on defense, and he assuredly would have been an impact performer once again had Sheehan summoned him for more double duty. But in an effort to maximize the athlete’s offensive skills, Sheehan reduced Ryan’s workload.

“I did miss it,” Ryan said of playing defense, “but I was able to focus on offense more and I knew I wouldn’t get as tired.”

Indeed, Ryan looked surprisingly fresh as the postseason got underway, which no doubt was a positive occurrence for Richards. In the TF South contest, Ryan peeled off a few runs that left several frustrated Rebels defenders grasping at air, and he maintained that level of performance in the Bulldogs’ pair of playoff clashes.

The season ended in the 11th week, and for that Ryan was disappointed. However, a second-round loss to Danville didn’t diminish his overall positive experience.

“I’m just going to remember spending time with each other,” Ryan said, when asked for his fondest football memory. “[Having pasta] dinners the day before games with friends and teammates and things like that were great, and we had a great work ethic. [Our success] showed how determined you have to be to be good day in and day out.”

Sheehan believes Ryan and Richards’ other seniors restored pride in the football program and put it back on track to be an annual contender for conference honors and postseason invitations. But while he’s thankful for that, Sheehan will miss the presence of those upperclassmen in 2010, particularly the acknowledged “leader of the band.”

“He’s unassuming and really soft-spoken, one of those kids you love being around,” Sheehan said of Ryan. “That’s what makes him special and makes it all worthwhile [as a coach].

“There’s not much he can’t do [athletically]. I’m a little down because I don’t get to watch him play anymore.”

Sheehan’s loss, however, will soon be UIC’s gain.

This is part of the November 26, 2009 online edition of The Reporter.

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