It was 68 years ago, but Rich Zinanni still remembers it vividly.

Born with Perthes disease, a slow deterioration of part of the hip joint, a 10-year-old Zinanni stood on his crutches as St. Patrick – long since known as Bishop McNamara – emerged from their brand new football stadium for their 1957 home opener.

“I was awed by the enormity of that thing,” Zinanni said. “The football team came out of it and I was like ‘woah, I want to do that someday.’ I didn’t even know if I’d be able to walk.

“But I did. I got through and I made it.”

Not only did he make it, graduating from Bishop McNamara in 1965, but after time as a linebacker and offensive lineman at Northern Illinois University and a brief stint as a teacher and coach at Sheridan Correctional Facility in LaSalle County, Zinanni became one of the state’s most prolific prep football figures.

The five-time state champion and 378-game winner saw the school name the stadium after him in 2019 before his retirement following the 2021 season. He returned Thursday night to cut the ribbon on the school’s brand new Rich Zinanni Athletic Complex before leading the current football team and members of the McNamara family through the facility for the first time.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 14

Longtime head football coach Rich Zinanni, center, leads the way to Bishop McNamara's new Rich Zinanni Athletic Complex for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette)

The new stadium stands in the exact location of the one Zinanni first fell in love with and later became a legend of the sport at. Visually, the bricks are less gray and more neutral, but aside from that can be best described as a modern twist on a classic Kankakee landmark.

“It’s as good as you can get,” Zinanni said of the new facilities that bear his name. “I’ll put it against any of them. We did it ourselves and I’m so proud of that.”

By “ourselves,” Zinanni meant the McNamara community that came together to raise over $4.5 million for the school’s capital campaign that coincided with its 100th anniversary during the 2022-23 school year.

The stadium was the final part of a school-wide facelift that included a new chapel, a student success center and new chemistry lab.

Bright Architecture, PSI Construction and Piggush Engineering oversaw the creation of it, along with dozens of parents and alumni that donated plenty of work towards the eight-month construction.

Bishop McNamara president/principal Kaelyn Bess said that the process of putting the complex together was a perfect example of the school’s values in action.

“This is where McNamara truly shines,” Bess said. “The people love this place as if it was their own and they’ve made this an extension of their family.”

While the Irish made 38 playoff appearances during Zinanni’s coaching career, they haven’t made one since he retired, with their current three-year postseason drought the longest in school history.

New head coach Greg Youngblood, who likened coming into the new stadium to “being given the keys to a Maserati,” said that the team prepares to return the favor to their donors by giving them a good show to watch from their new bleachers.

“We know with much given there’s much responsibility,” Youngblood said. “We hold that responsibility that we owe it to the school to bring back that tradition, bring back that spirit.”

A New Mexico native, Youngblood gained a little familiarity with McNamara as the defensive coordinator at Olivet Nazerene University in Bourbonnais, and quickly began to understand the school and football program when he joined as the team’s defensive coordinator last season.

“Yeah, it was special because of the state championships, a lot of wins and that’s a big part of it,” Youngblood said. “But it was special because of the people, the relationships and the way people care about each other, and this is another testament to that.”