Montini Catholic’s school community is mourning the death of the high school’s founding member and first head football and wrestling coach, Jim Kavanaugh, who died July 1.

When Montini Catholic opened its doors in the fall of 1966, Kavanaugh quickly became known as “Mr. Everything.” Named as the school’s first football coach, he wore many other hats as well, serving as a PE teacher, guidance counselor, teacher, head of buildings and grounds and athletic director, according to a news release.

Tasked primarily with building the entire Bronco athletic program from scratch, Kavanaugh hit the ground running and was instrumental in getting football, cheerleading, boys basketball, wrestling and baseball off the ground.

In total, during his 13 years of leadership, Kavanaugh led the Broncos to a 61-51-6 record, including nine winning seasons. The 1974 Broncos captured the school’s first conference championship, winning the West Suburban Catholic Conference crown, finishing with a 7-2 record. Kavanaugh was very proud to have coached many all-conference athletes throughout his Montini Catholic football coaching career, according to the release.

Kavanaugh started the Montini wrestling program in the winter of 1966-67 with the Broncos fielding a squad of 18 freshman wrestlers. Despite only coaching for one season, Kavanaugh helped lay the foundation for what is today one of the most successful wrestling programs in the state.

Following his tenure as head football coach, Kavanaugh continued to serve Montini’s school community as the athletic director through 1996, before retiring as the director of guidance and boys golf coach in 2000. He returned frequently to Montini to participate in activities and to celebrate the school’s many milestone events including the 50th anniversary celebration in 2016.

“I met Jim in late July 1974 for a teaching and coaching interview at Montini Catholic,” Chris Andriano, Kavanaugh’s football coaching successor, said in a news release. “Kav asked me one question. Tell me about yourself? After maybe 10 minutes, he shook my hand and told me I had the job. He then gave me a post hole digger and told me to dig two holes 23 feet apart on the practice field.

“Five years later, he stepped down as head football coach, and picked me to replace him. He became my biggest advocate, supporter and mentor. I will never forget everything he did for me and my career. I could always go to Kav with anything and he was always there for me. A very special man. I will miss him dearly. Next to my family, he was the biggest influence in my life.”

“Jim Kavanaugh was literally one of the building blocks of Montini Catholic High School,” Coach (Mike) Bukovsky ‘83 said in the release. “Throughout his many years of service to our Montini community, Jim took on many other roles as well, and was always a tireless worker no matter what job he did. Jim will always be remembered as the ‘Father of Montini Football,’ and laid the groundwork for the future success of this program.”