This academic year introduced a new formation program for all coaches at Saint Ignatius High School designed to strengthen their skills and knowledge of the school’s mission of the Grad-at-Grad, becoming mentors and role models who inspire the growth of our student-athletes.
The Coach Formation Program began as an idea from Fr. Raymond P. Guiao, S.J. ’82 and Dr. Anthony Fior ’02. There have been retreats and other workshops, but the goal was to create a program similar to the Chaplaincy program created by Drew Vilinsky ’97. The vision of this program is to teach coaches Ignatian values geared toward student-athletes.
In the summer of 2024, Elvis Grbac returned to Saint Ignatius to teach freshman Theology and coach quarterbacks of the varsity football program. From 2010 to 2015, Grbac was a part of the Saint Ignatius community, coaching quarterbacks and helping guide the Wildcats to a State Championship in 2011. Grbac would be named Head Football Coach at Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s and guide the Vikings in 2019 and 2020. This offseason, he returned to Saint Ignatius to coach quarterbacks. Along with all of the caps Grbac wears, he is also the Director of the Coach Formation Program.
“I think we do a nice job of forming our young men within the building, but if you have a group of coaches coming from outside the building. We want to continue the formation program after school as well at practice and in games,” Grbac says. “We spend a lot of time with our student-athletes, and our coaches are seeing them consistently throughout the week; that is a huge formative period that should be geared to our coaches to help the student-athlete.”
Grbac brings a decorated resume back to Saint Ignatius High School. The 1988 St. Joseph’s grad played collegiate football as the quarterback of the Michigan Wolverines, setting a school record in completions, attempts, and touchdowns. Grbac was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and enjoyed a ten-year NFL career with stints with the 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens. He was a member of the 1995 Super Bowl Champion 49ers. Despite playing at the highest level, his faith never wavered.
“There are ups and downs and peaks and valleys in every sport. I am a member of the Catholic Speakers Association, and I talk about three priorities: faith, family, and career. What happens to many individuals is what you do for a living ends up becoming the focal point of who you are,” Grbac explains. “Faith life unfortunately takes a back seat. Our faith life should be priority number one, which trickles down to your family. Then work-life becomes a vocational call, taking our faith into the workplace.”
The goal of the Coach Formation Program is for our coaches to find God in all things, a core principle of Ignatian spirituality, which will assist high school student-athletes in learning outside of the classroom and what they do in their extracurricular activities.
“Our focus should begin with God being present in everything we do, including coaching. If we lose that focus, it just becomes pride and results, and we are not forming these student-athletes the right way,” says Grbac. “I learned from Coach Kyle ’69 and Coach Restifo Hon. ’19 how to coach in the right way; God was present in everything they did. If I can start with that, everything will fall into place.”
“I am truly blessed. Coaching is one thing; I can coach quarterbacks in my sleep because of my background. But teaching is my vocation,” explains Grbac. “The experience I have had in coaching, playing at the highest level with great coaches, and being at Saint Ignatius has transformed me, and now I have the chance to help other coaches.”
The Saint Ignatius Coach Formation Program marks an essential step in our mission to develop skilled coaches and mentors who embody Ignatian values. This program empowers coaches to make a lasting impact on our student-athletes outside of the classroom.
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