At the end of the 2022 season, a 50-year legacy that's been filled with wins and losses, and lessons and learning, will come to an end for St. Ignatius Football Head Coach Chuck Kyle, but the lasting impact he has made on athletes over the last half century will last many lifetimes.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d do exactly what I did,” said Kyle.
Kyle is an English teacher at St. Ignatius High School and has been involved in the west side of Cleveland since 1972, with the first game of his coaching career against Holy Name. They lost that first game on the gridiron, but he took it in stride and came out on top.
Throughout his career, Kyle racked up 31 playoff appearances, 11 state titles and three national championships.
With a powerhouse football program to his name, Kyle knew the sport was bigger than the game itself. It was about shaping student-athletes for any obstacle in life after leaving Wildcat football.
“They’re going to learn through our program how to prepare mentally, physically and spiritually for any challenge they have in their life,” said Kyle.
One of those players was LeCharles Bentley, who played for Kyle in the 1990s and was All State. He turned All-American during college at Ohio State. Finally, an All-Pro player in the NFL as a center with the New Orleans Saints and ended his career as a Cleveland Brown in 2007. Bentley lived a quintessential “football life” and couldn’t have done it without Kyle.
“He [Kyle] uses football as a tool, as a preparatory tool,” said Bentley. “Without a doubt, he is the best football coach I’ve ever had.”
Motivational words of comradery and accountability ring throughout post-practice and game speeches, exemplifying the teammate mentality instilled in players.
“You look to your left, and you look to your right, and you do not let those guys down, you can’t let them down!” said Kyle during practice.
Even to those who he didn’t interact with him on a football field, countless students' lives were touched inside his classroom, learning about literature from long ago.
Students inside his classroom never hear a word about football, but once the bell rings at the end of the day, he’s enthusiastic about getting onto the practice field.
“He’s like Superman in this phone booth, all of the sudden, he just changes!” said Bentley.
A coach’s integrity speaks louder than words when the main objective is about the kids and ensuring they’re growing from their experience on the field.
Kyle would do just that, looking out for players in ways they wouldn’t notice. For instance, by picking up rocks off the practice field to avoid injuries.
“I got into the habit while coaching, I’d pick up a rock and put it in my pocket because I didn’t want a kid to fall on it,” he said. “But by the end of practice, my pants would be falling down.”
Or by having kids believe in themselves through the major of coaching.
“If that young man looks you in the eye and truly, truly believes your major, the coach’s major objective is to help that kid,” he said. “If they look at me and go, ‘He’s really trying to help me’, that kid’ll do wonders for you.”
Kyle says each season is like a novel, with every game being a chapter, and the players being characters in the plot.
However, this novel is far from being over, with the season starting this fall. Kyle will have the chance to put one more jewel in his crown, completing a 50-year career’s worth of coaching.
But to him, it’s more than winning. It’s the relationships built during the time spent that will last longer than any record.
“I tell kids all the time, ‘Fellas, 50 years from now, when you get together, raise one for me, because I’m not gonna be around,’” he said. “But please do that, but get together, alright? Get together. You guys are gonna be friends for the rest of your life.”
St. Ignatius opens the season at 7:00 p.m. against Mentor at FirstEnergy Stadium, where they will honor seniors and host CYO night.
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