Troy McAllister was proud of what he was building at Sandburg, but he saw a new opportunity at a conference rival as too good to pass up.
McAllister was officially named Homewood-Flossmoor’s football coach after he was approved at a school board meeting Tuesday night.
McAllister will also be a physical education, health and driver education teacher at H-F.
“I’m really excited,” McAllister said. “The tradition of that program and all the community support there, the youth programs in the community and the facilities and the resources they have at H-F make it a super exciting place to be.”
McAllister went 19-20 over four seasons at Sandburg. In his first season in 2021, he took the Eagles to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Sandburg made the postseason in three of McAllister’s four years, including this season’s 5-5 finish, but never won a playoff game.
McAllister said he sees things going in the right direction at Sandburg, which made it tough to walk away.
“It was a really difficult decision,” he said. “We’ve been building it up and there’s a really good group of young men here now. The next couple years are going to be really special at Sandburg.
“But for me and my family, this was the right decision. There’s never a good time, but I felt like it was the right decision.”
Troy McAllister, center, runs his first official practice as Sandburg’s coach in Orland Park on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
Homewood-Flossmoor athletic director Matt Lyke cited McAllister’s “proven track record of success” in announcing the hiring.
Before coming to Sandburg, McAllister had a tremendous decade at Phillips, winning Class 4A state championships in 2015 and 2017 and finishing as the runner-up in 2014.
Those Phillips teams are the only ones from the Chicago Public League to ever win a football state championship.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Troy McAllister to the Viking family,” Lyke said. “Coach McAllister’s experience, vision, and passion for student-athlete development make him the ideal leader for our football program. He brings a wealth of experience and a strong reputation for developing competitive football programs while fostering academic and personal growth for student-athletes both on and off the field.”
“Coach McAllister’s extensive background in football and strong foundation in leadership will be instrumental in driving Homewood-Flossmoor to new heights.”
McAllister replaces Terrell Alexander, who finished 23-24 in five seasons with the Vikings and made two playoff appearances, losing in the first round both times.
H-F went 4-5 last fall and missed the playoffs after letting big leads slip away in back-to-back devastating losses in the final two weeks, 63-62 to Naperville North and 36-32 to Lockport.
The Vikings also lost to their new coach on Sept. 13 as Sandburg rolled to a 63-34 win in Orland Park.
But even after watching some of H-F’s recent struggles from the opposite sideline, McAllister is confident about the program’s potential.
“H-F’s tradition is really, really good,” McAllister said. “It’s building on what they’ve got, continuing to grow it and just trying to put in place some things that I think will make it even better.”
Troy McAllister is given a water bath by his players after Phillips beat Belleville Althoff 51-7 in the Class 4A state championship game at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
How can he do that?
“First and foremost, it’s making sure the young men in the program have a great experience,” he said. “Then it’s trying to get some things out of them that maybe they didn’t think they had in themselves.
“The process piece of it is important. Once the process is there, I think sometimes that’s when the product starts to match what’s being done.”
The Vikings reached at least the Class 8A quarterfinals six times in 11 years under Craig Buzea from 2010 to 2020, including a runner-up finish in 2014 and a semifinal run in 2010.
The program has one state championship, winning the 6A title in 1994 under John Wrenn.
After Jamere Dismukes led H-F’s tradition-rich boys basketball program to its first state title last March, McAllister knows he will be expected to follow suit in restoring the football program to glory.
He embraces those expectations.
“Everything’s in place at H-F to be successful,” he said. “Obviously, the goal is to build it into a perennial state contender.”
