Loyola Academy grad, dad named new Ramblers football coach

Robert "Beau" Desherow, a 1993 graduate of Loyola Academy and its defensive line coach during the 2015 and 2018 Class 8A title runs, was named the Ramblers' new head football coach on March 15.

Desherow, the successful candidate from among 70 hopefuls in a national search, succeeds Ramblers' 17-year head coach John Holecek.

On Dec. 5 Holecek announced he'd be leaving the program, shortly after directing Loyola to its fourth state title, and his third.

Desherow, unavailable for comment while out of town when Loyola athletic director Genevieve Atwood announced the hire, was a two-year starting linebacker for the Ramblers and played on the Ramblers' 1992 Class 6A state runner-up team.

Desherow is currently Loyola's vice president for admission and enrollment. He first started working for the private school in Wilmette in 2004 as an assistant director of admissions.

He was recruited to play at the University of Tulsa, finished his career at North Park University, and was inducted into Loyola's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Desherow had been an assistant coach at Loyola from 2004-19, and was the Rambler's head sophomore coach from 2009-11.

His son, Loyola senior J.P. Desherow, is his fourth child to attend the 114-year-old Catholic school. Beau Desherow's wife, Danielle, is a 1993 graduate of Marillac High School, an all-girls school that merged with Loyola Academy in 1994.

Beau Desherow will immediately assume his football duties and begin transitioning to the athletic department this summer, a Loyola Academy release stated

"Beau brings it all," Holecek said in the release.

"I've worked with Beau for almost twenty years. He has grit, a winning mindset, and the ability to lead and develop student-athletes. Loyola Academy football is in good hands," Holecek said.