Former teacher and football coach Pete Ventrelli passed away Oct. 18. Ventrelli coached from 1986 to 2001 and led the team to second in state in 1990. He was introduced into the DGN hall of fame in 2009, as well as the IHSA hall of fame in 2003. Alongside these accomplishments, he was recently named as one of the top 100 West Suburban Coaches.
“He came into our program and we had never been to the state playoffs at that point. He came into our first meeting and said that we were going to be state champs. I didn’t have that vision as a coach and I’m not sure anybody else did. He built a culture, he built that foundation, he provided the leadership to be a state championship type team,” assistant football coach Bill Kleckner said.
Ventrelli formed a culture in the football program that left a large impact on both the coaches and players.
“He had a speech before every game that I can still recite to this day: ‘Today is the beginning of a new day. God has given us this day to use as we will. We can waste it or use it for good. What we do today is important because we are exchanging a day out of our lives for it. When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever– leaving in its place something that we’ve traded. Make sure it’s gain not loss, good not evil, success not failure,’” special services faculty and former student athlete Brian Wardlow said.
Ventrelli’s philosophy towards life, directly translated to his philosophy on football and his coaching on the field.
“His intensity was incomparable, we spent a lot of hours and minutes on a practice field together, I don’t ever think I ever saw a moment he was disengaged from this practice. His intensity went from the moment he walked onto the field time we walked off the field. He was just so locked in. His energy was impeccable,” Kleckner said.
Although he was determined when it came to winning, he had a soft spot for each of his players and coaches who he cared deeply about.
“He’d be singing on the buses on the way home and every guy on the team was in one bus and it was just singing and he was up there leading them. Whether it was a celebration of a win or simply just a practice his energy was there,” Kleckner said.
One of the many aspects that made Ventrelli stand out from all the other DGN football coaches were his strong leadership qualities.
“He was an unbelievable leader, he was everything a leader should be. He was precise, he was exact, he was honest, he would motivate a very average player and stretch them beyond their capabilities. He would do that not only in his players, but in his coaches as well,” sophomore football coach Chris Guerrieri said.
With the help of Ventrelli’s new offensive strategies DGN made a playoff run from 1988-1993, even though DGN hadn’t made the playoffs for years prior.
“We kept it simple and we practiced things until you did it right, there’s 50, 60, 70, 80 different ways to do things now, under Ventrelli, we had four plays. But we did ‘em right. We called it creative redundancy,” Guerreri said.
Even as Ventrelli’s team made it to the playoffs for six years in a row, his intensity never wavered, and he set the standard for his players to always be working hard, no matter if the team is winning or losing.
“He was the type of guy when things were not going good, he was in total control, when things seemed to be going really good, he was getting after people, weather it be players or coaches, he read the moments he was one whenever things were going real good he was making sure people weren’t getting careless with what they were doing,” Kleckner said.
Ventrelli left a legacy at DGN both on and off the field.
“It was an honor to know him, and the impact he made on Downers Grove North will last generations,” Wardlow said.
