Longtime Sycamore coach Joe Ryan set to retire after season

Love and caring.

Sycamore assistant coach Jake Countryman said those aren’t exactly two words commonly associated with football.

But for two decades under Joe Ryan, that’s what has stood out about Sycamore football not just to Countryman but former players as well.

“It’s always been first and foremost about creating better people,” said Countryman, an assistant under Ryan since 2005. “He puts his players first no matter what’s going on. If there’s something going on in a kid’s life, they feel comfortable coming to him.

“He creates that culture of love and caring through a sport you might not see that always.”

Ryan said he is planning on retiring at the end of the season. He came to Sycamore in 2004, and after three losing seasons the Spartans made the playoffs 16 times.

He’s 151-75 in 21 seasons, and the Spartans have made the Class 5A semifinals four times, including as recently as 2022.

He started his head coaching career in 1993 at Eureka, leading the program for two seasons. He went to Princeton in 1995, went 2-16 in his first two campaigns but had only two more losing years until leaving after the 2003 season. He took the Tigers to the 4A semifinals in 2002.

Ryan, the physical education department chair at the high school, said he was retiring from teaching at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. He said he was offered the chance to stay on and coach, but felt like that would be too difficult.

“I think it’s important for relationships that you’re teaching in the building you’re coaching,” said Ryan, who has 204 wins in his career according to the IHSA archives. “I think it’s time for someone else to have that role.”

It’s the formation of those relationships that Countryman said will be a big part of Ryan’s legacy. Former player Nick Niemann, who after Sycamore played for Iowa and then the San Diego Chargers, agreed with Countryman.

Niemann said Ryan always finds the perfect balance between wanting to win while still having fun when the time was right for that sort of thing.

“He was serious about winning, and we’d put the work in and do things, but he would also have personal relationships with guys and joke around,” said Niemann, who signed with the Texans in the offseason. “You definitely need some of that. That was something I enjoyed from him.”

Niemann and his family moved to Sycamore before he started the eighth grade. He said Ryan knows the game and how to get the best out of his players.

“To keep it simple, he was the first coach I was around that really knew how to approach things the right way,” Niemann said. “I think that shows with how many winning seasons he’s had at Sycamore, how many deep playoff runs he’s had regardless of who he’s had personnel or talent-wise.”

Sycamore athletic director Chauncey Carrick came to Sycamore in 1993. He said the football program had its ups and downs before Ryan took over.

“He came in and established programs that have been steady and the model of what we need to do to be successful in Sycamore,” Carrick said.

Carrick said he’s not worried about naming a successor before the season ends, not wanting to create a distraction. He said the school will lock in after the season ends.

Ryan said he’s also not wanting to look back at the moment, focusing on his last season instead. It’s also why he said the choice to retire didn’t seem hard - although that may change after November.

“I don’t think it’s as hard of a decision right now until it’s final, because I’m still coaching,” Ryan said. “I’ve made that statement, but it’s still in the future of what’s going to happen.”

Countryman said Ryan is a tireless worker, and the players take note of that and emulate it. He added he’s straightforward in a caring way and has brought a true family feel to the program and community.

“The kids know he has their best interests at heart no matter what that answer might be,” Countryman said. “If they wanted to talk to him outside of football, they know he’s always there and will give them perspective on life as well.”