When you see Montini’s Israel Abrams throw a tight spiral 30 yards across the field to a receiver in stride, it seems pretty effortless.
But Broncos coach Mike Bukovsky says Abrams makes it look easy thanks to countless hours of work.
“The thing I will tell everybody [is] he loves to practice,” Bukovsky told the Sun-Times. “There’s people you coach who don’t love to practice. He loves to work on his craft; he loves to throw. It’s the backbone of his success.”
And it has made Abrams one of the most sought-after players in the 2027 recruiting cycle. The 6-4, 187-pounder is a consensus five-star prospect, ranked the No. 2 quarterback and No. 39 player overall nationally.
He committed to 2025 CFP runner-up Miami this month, picking the Hurricanes over national champ Indiana, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
“Me and my family got down there and [saw] what it was all about — the culture and all the coaches and how I’ll be coached,” Abrams told the Sun-Times. “It was a good vibe.”
National recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove loves Abrams’ upside in such a high-powered offense.
“His arm talent is so impressive,” Cosgrove told the Sun-Times. “He just reads everything so well, so quick and gets the ball out so fast.”
“I’ve been coaching high school football for 36 years, and I’ve seen a couple of kids that maybe approached his arm strength,” Bukovsky said. “What I’ve never seen is his ability to navigate in the pocket.”
Again, it was something Abrams worked at.
“Most definitely, that was my main focus sophomore [year] into junior season,” he said.
The effort paid off.
Abrams led the Broncos to a 14-0 record and the Class 4A title last fall, completing 69% of his passes for 4,072 yards and 40 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also ran for 224 yards and 10 touchdowns.
But gaudy as they were, the stats weren’t something Abrams was preoccupied with.
“He’s never talked to me about numbers,” Bukovsky said. “He totally understands the team concept.”
Passarella departs DePaul
Michael Passarella, who coached DePaul Prep to the Class 4A state title in 2024, resigned after seven seasons to become the defensive coordinator at Elmhurst University.
Passarella and Elmhurst coach Mike Heffernan were college teammates at Illinois State and have known each other for two decades.
“My idea, long term, I wanted to be a head football coach in college,” Passarella told the Sun-Times.
For family reasons, he wanted to stay in the Chicago area while moving toward that goal.
“It had to make sense in terms of philosophy and schedule,” Passarella said.
He took over a DePaul team that was 0-10 the year before he arrived, coming off a winless regular season and a Catholic League playoff loss. His record with the Rams was 28-38.
Though the 2024 title run was the Rams’ only playoff appearance under Passarella, the program’s numbers are up, and he believes it is positioned for success.
“We were young, and there is talent there,” he said. “There are a handful of kids who are Division I prospects. That place could be a real gold mine.”