Alumni Spotlight: John E. Dwyer III '67

9/21/2017

In June, girls’ varsity lacrosse coach John E. Dwyer III ’67 led the team to its ninth consecutive state title—building a legacy at Loyola and a lacrosse dynasty with a winning streak that is the one of the longest in all of Illinois high school sports history for any sport.

Dwyer has been named the IHSWLA Coach of the Year multiple times and was the recipient of Loyola’s Frank Amato Coach of the Year Award in 2010. As head coach at Loyola, Dwyer has over 350 wins, has coached over 50 U.S. Lacrosse All-Americans and 8 Under Armour All-Americans and has sent over 85 players to compete for schools including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Brown, Boston College, Northwestern, Michigan, Ohio State, Marquette, Cincinnati, Butler, Denver, American, Loyola Maryland, Holy Cross, Villanova, Fairfield, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, George Washington, Stetson, Williams, Vassar, Washington and Lee, Bowdoin, Denison, Wooster, Hobart and William Smith, Colorado College and others.

Dwyer made a name for himself with a successful football career at Georgetown University where, upon graduation, he had claimed 31 school records. He was named National Club Football Association (NCFA) First team All-American twice, was two-time DC Metro Football Officials Association College Football Player of the Year and was selected to play in the All-American Bowl college football game in Tampa Stadium.

A bachelor's degree in government from Georgetown University and an MBA from Northwestern University prepared Dwyer for a notable career in the financial services industry. He has worked at Merrill Lynch and Mizuho Securities and currently is a director and financial advisor at Robert W. Baird.

And before all of this, Dwyer was a Rambler. As a student at LA, he was a four-year athlete on the swim team that ended Fenwick’s decades-long run as Catholic League champions. He competed on the varsity football team that won the Prep Bowl in both 1965 and 1966 in front of over 75,000 and 66,000 fans respectively. He calls Sodality Club with Fr. Clifford a “very formative experience,” and remembers fondly his time spent as a member of the Torch Club.

For Dwyer, the long list of influential teachers and coaches—many of whom he calls “the best in Chicago”—including Frank Amato; Rev. James C. Arimond, SJ, ’57; Dick Blackmore ’57; Rev. Ignatius M. Burrill, SJ; Dick Devine ’61; Bill Gourley; Bill Graf ’55; Bob Naughton; John O’Loughlin ’59; Tom Powers ’36; Bob Spoo; and Fred Wright. He also cites many wonderful teachers who also taught his children: Robert Austin, Jerry Mauer, Jerry Spellman and Joe Taylor.

Today, Dwyer continues his dedication to the girls’ lacrosse program and maintains his connection to Loyola Academy as a proud member of the Class of 1967, which celebrated its 50th reunion earlier this month.

In June, you led the girls’ lacrosse team to its ninth consecutive state title. Tell us about your experience coaching and what it takes to achieve this level of success.

Winning in the manner that we have is the byproduct of a number of fortunate circumstances. We have great support from Loyola Academy—from Fr. McGrath to Pat Mahoney ’90and the entire Athletic Department, as well as faculty and students.

We have an amazing parent board that is most helpful in assisting our coaches with many items including registration, uniforms, travel, team parents, team dinners, etc. Their tireless efforts enable all of our coaches to coach and not be encumbered by much else.

One of the main reasons for our success is the dedication of our coaching staff. We have been blessed over the past 16 years to have had a staff that is unrivaled in this state and most states. Jenny Bush was our first assistant after she graduated from Northwestern along with Jeff Dees [Loyola’s Social Studies chair] who has been here for more than 15 years. Chris Penna, Loyola’s Magis program head, was a goalie coach for us. So many of our coaches have been Loyola grads or strongly connected to the Loyola community, which is a big plus as they know our traditions and the way we like to do things. In many cases, they brought what they had learned from their college coaches to us—great individuals like Natalya A. Bright ’01, Catherine Fox ’04, Genevieve Baisley Atwood [vice president for admissions and enrollment at Loyola], Elizabeth Maddock Kearney ’06, Carolyn Maddock ’10, Meghan Huffman Brennan ’07 [director of alumni relations] and Cara Dowdle ’10.

A couple of our former players have made a career of coaching. Colleen Smith ’10 was the captain of her Princeton team, All-Ivy, All-American and a finalist for the Yeardley Love Award. Colleen coached at Cal Davis and now is an assistant and defensive coordinator at Yale. Molly Hulseman ’11 was a four-year starter at Loyola Maryland and coached at Michigan and now is also at Yale as offensive coordinator.

Elizabeth Kadison O’Connor ’02 made a lasting impression on our program. After Loyola she was a two-time captain and leading scorer for Boston College and also received a master’s degree while playing there. During her years as a coach, she commanded the respect of each of our players and made them far better in both lacrosse and life.

Julie H. Kras ’00 was another former player and great coach.

Paige Jones and her sister Brooke both played at Northwestern and began coaching with us while graduate students. Brooke went home to Minneapolis, but Paige stayed, and we added Bridget Bianco a heralded NU goalie. Kim Connors Lecky was with us in the early days after playing at Virginia and winning an NCAA title. After several years in the financial world and being the mother of two young children, Kim has rejoined us.

Jeff Dees and Loyola parent Tim Schulte (a Michigan football grad) both coach our fine JV team, and Spencer Cotten ’84, a former state record holder in the 100-meter dash and Stanford football player, and Susan Snyder coach our talented freshmen.

My eldest daughter Nora M. Andrews ’00 was our first assistant coach. My daughter Kathleen Dwyer ’07 has been on the sidelines with me since she graduated from Loyola and during her time playing at Georgetown when she would come home in May. It has been an added privilege to be able to have coached Kathleen for four years and my youngest daughter, Brennan ’17. The time this allowed me to spend with them, riding home from practice each day, traveling, seeing them participate and be a part of all that is good about lacrosse at Loyola is so rewarding.

I have had the opportunity to become part of a program that includes so many wonderful families. Our parents are so supportive of everything we do. For example, we have been the beneficiaries of four Dooleys (Claire ’08, Grace ’10, Anne ’14 and Mary ’17), three Sullivans (Megan ’00, Shannon ’05 and Erin ’07) and countless sets of sisters.

Each player in our program, from the rawest beginning freshman to the experienced senior, is important to us. Each group of seniors sets the tone for the success of every year. I am most proud of every young woman who has played lacrosse at Loyola on every level. They are the reason that we succeed. They are the ones who put in all the work, who push and support each other, who aspire to do things the right way and who play for each other.

What lessons do you try to instill in your players, both on the field and off?

We want our players to play the game the right way and have fun in the process. We work hard— beginning with off-season conditioning under Loyola’s Strength Coach Jeff Lindeman and throughout the season. Our practices are very fast paced and competitive so we are always well prepared for every opponent.

Our players know it is special to play for Loyola. They play with pride, they play for each other and they know that they have a unique opportunity to represent Loyola. They embody Ignatian ideals in their daily lives as students, in the service work they do and the charities they raise funds for including Misericordia; Feed My Starving Children; the Road Home Wounded Warriors; JDRF; and ONE LOVE, the Yeardley Love memorial. This year, we will be supporting the Mighty Magners in their quest for a cure for cystic fibrosis. The Magners are a Loyola family with two children living with cystic fibrosis. [Learn more about their inspiring work and advocacy for CF here.]

The way our players go about studying, practicing and competing in a selfless, team-oriented manner makes these young women proud representatives of what is good about Loyola.

Tell us how you celebrated your 50th reunion this month.

At our 50th reunion, Loyola did a great job of providing many opportunities for our classmates to be together—golf, a reception and a tailgate and football game (it’s always nice to beat Mt. Carmel!). The Mass celebrated by Father McGrath was special and included a poignant moment in which our deceased classmates were memorialized by candles and a reading of their names. It was powerful. Dinner in the Rev. James C.L. Arimond, SJ, ’57 Student Center, presided over by Fr. Arimond, himself, was another opportunity to be with classmates and spouses, and brunch at Hackney’s was a nice finish. We had a great turnout and even though many of us hadn’t seen each other in years, we quickly caught up and again realized that we attended a special school at an important time and have lived our lives with the lessons and values we were taught at Loyola.

If you had to pick a favorite Loyola memory, what would it be?

Picking a favorite memory of Loyola would be very hard for me because I have so many. It might be the opportunity to have, now on 43 years of marriage to my wife Dinny, our six children attend Loyola—John E. Dwyer IV ’93; Brian K. Dwyer ’95; Bridget K. LaCien ’98, who was in the first class of freshman women; Nora M. Andrews ’00; Kathleen Dwyer ’07; and Mary “Brennan” Dwyer ’17—and seeing the older ones receive their diploma from my dad, Jack Dwyer ’36.

Back