For Loyola, team success more important than having top recruits

WILMETTE – Loyola’s name has been attached to many accomplishments since the program reached the 2012 Class 8A state championship. Most notably, the Ramblers have won four state titles and appeared in four more championships.

But there is one domain Loyola hasn’t dominated during one of the most successful runs in state history: prospect rankings.

The Ramblers will buck that trend this fall with four of the top ranked players in the state, three of whom are committed to Power Four programs. But despite the higher-rated talent, the Ramblers aren’t changing how they’ve approached preparing for a season over the past 20 years.

“It doesn’t change much,” said senior safety Donovan Robinson, who’s committed to Washington. “We still have to play and perform how we’ve always performed, regardless of scholarships or whoever’s going to a different school, big or small school.

“I feel like we still have a standard to uphold.”

The talent doesn’t hurt, though. Along with Robinson, senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald, running back Drew MacPherson and tight end Brendan Loftus are set to compete at the Division I level after they graduate from Loyola.

MacPherson and Fitzgerald are committed to Iowa, Fitzgerald as a walk-on, while Loftus is pledged to Miami (Ohio).

This season will be the first time Loyola has four players ranked in the top 50 in Illinois, according to 247Sports, and the most players committed to a Power Four (then-Power Five) school since at least 2012. Loyola had two top-50 players in a class in both 2022 and 2023 had no one ranked in the top 50 seven times since 2012.

“Typically, anytime we play against anyone, their top three or four guys are the Power Four guys, multiple-star recruits,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said. “Typically we don’t have those guys. Typically we have really smart, dedicated kids that are good football players. When your next group of guys, four down to 22, are all really solid guys, you’re going to have success.”

Desherow credited that success to his coaching staff and players dedicated to becoming the best they can be. While former players have gone on to play college football at different levels after graduating, most players understand the program’s process to success. They develop throughout their time in the program to be ready to contribute as a senior, sometimes as a junior.

Fitzgerald said there’s been an understanding that while Loyola might not have the top-rated players, the coaches put in schemes and the players work to make up the talent gap.

That plan hasn’t changed this season.

“Our coach as always says, ‘If we go one-on-one, I’m going to choose our man,’ ” Fitzgerald said. “Just because we are disciplined and we worked our [butts] off throughout the summer to prepare for that one play we need.”

Loyola will need plenty of talent as it tries to win a third straight state championship. The Ramblers will play one of the tougher schedules in the state that features programs that have won 41 state championships.

“It doesn’t change much. We still have to play and perform how we’ve always performed, regardless of scholarships or whoever’s going to a different school, big or small school. I feel like we still have a standard to uphold.”

—  Donovan Robinson, Loyola senior safety

With plenty of expectations and a likely target on their back, the Ramblers are ready to show that they’re the same program Loyola has been for the past two decades.

“It’s not that you get to commit to a Power Four school or a D-I school and you get to stop,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to go prove it.”