John Holecek

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John Francis Holecek (born May 7, 1972) is an American former professional football player and nationally recognized football coach. He played linebacker for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, and the Atlanta Falcons. He went to college at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and played with perhaps the best college linebacker corps ever assembled. Despite knee injuries lowering high draft expectations and ending Butkus Award speculation, Holecek finished his Illini career with over 430 tackles. Holecek was drafted by the Bills in 1995, played for the Chargers in 2001, and for the Falcons in 2002. Holecek played in the NFL for 8 seasons and was credited for over 560 career tackles; awarded NFL's "Player of the Week" honors in 1999.

He returned to the Chicago area and was the head football coach for 17 years at Loyola Academy - who won the 2015, 2018, and 2022 Class 8A Illinois Football State Championships. Holecek was a finalist for the 2015 National Coach of the Year award. His often nationally-ranked Loyola teams had played internationally and hosted a ESPN High School Kickoff game in 2022. Coach Holecek announced his Loyola Academy retirement in December 2022 (with a cumulative 185-36 record), planning to focus "on the next chapter of his career”.^[1]