Stagg's Nero Changes Culture, Earns Bears Coach Of The Week Honor

PALOS HILLS, IL — Colton Nero took over the Stagg High School football program in 2020 amid the challenges that went along with the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge of taking over a program that hasn't traditionally been successful was daunting, he admits. But, if he could put the right people in place and establish some consistency, Nero believed good things could happen.

When he took charge, Nero vowed to make significant improvements to the Chargers’ program which, over the past three seasons, have evidenced themselves in a variety of ways. Now, with Stagg off to its first 3-0 start to a season since 2005, Nero has put the Stagg program on a different level, which has brought a new level of attention to the Chargers.

That includes from the Chicago Bears.

Nero was named the Bears Coach of the Week on Thursday, the team announced. The honor comes as the Chargers are preparing to face Andrew on Friday night, fresh off a 24-0 victory over Belleville West last week.

The Coach of the Week honor includes a $2,000 donation to the Stagg program from the Bears, who honor a high school coach and local high school football player each week.

For Nero, accolades like the one received from the Bears are meaningful. But while his name may be attached to the honor, he says that so much more behind-the-scenes work goes into building success than the person charged with leading the program.

"There's been a lot of really tough days — it obviously hasn't always been rainbows and sunshine," Nero told Patch on Thursday. "There have been a lot of long days and tough nights and frustration. But I've always believed that it doesn't work unless you have the right people on your staff with the support of not only my family but the administration here. The biggest thing we've done here is to maintain consistency and not allow ourselves to get too high or too low regardless of what our record looks like."

In honoring Nero, the Bears not only pointed to the Chargers’ on-field success but the fact that former Stagg defensive back TJ Griffin became the first player to earn a scholarship at Illinois since the early 2000s. In all, 11 former Stagg players are playing college football, which the Bears said is a sign of Nero’s commitment to developing a quality program at the school.

The $2,000 donation from the Bears will go a long way in helping the improvement of the program to continue, Nero said. Through fund-raising efforts and local support, the program has been able to do special things for its players in a program that Nero says doesn't have an overabundance of money each year.

Nero is a special education teacher at Stagg and says that he has appreciated the way his players have bought into the systems he has tried to put into place since taking over. This year's senior class is special to Nero after the group was freshmen when he took over the program.

Nero said in addition to developing players, he has worked to help build a culture of building a better mindset while teaching the game, teaching players to do the right thing in the classroom and in the community in an effort to build better people, he said.

But through it all, Nero says the unwavering support of those closest to him has been critical to the program's development.

"Obviously, we have a long season ahead of us still, and we've got a long way to go," Nero said Thursday. "By no means are we satisfied, but the support you have around you is always going to be a game-changer. There's been a lot of tough times, but there have also been a lot of really, really good times for us.

"So I'm just appreciative of the guys sticking with me through the process."