Mount Carmel opened last season as “the most talented team in Chicago history” with eight major college recruits. The state’s most successful and controversial team is even better this year.
The Caravan has five Power Four committed players, another eight players with Power Four offers and 19 total future college football players. Expect more to be added as the season moves along.
That doesn’t even count the talented high school football players the program is producing. Jordan Lynch’s squad, No. 1 in the preseason Super 25, has reloaded as it attempts to win a fifth consecutive state championship and record 18th overall state championship.
“Last year was the first time in Mount Carmel history that we went undefeated as a program,” Lynch said. “36-0. Our lower levels are good, and now we get that class in. This is more depth than we’ve had in the past.”
Both lines are loaded with large, talented future college players. Senior Quentin Burrell (Michigan) and junior Marshaun Thornton may be the best wide receiver duo in state history.
Linebacker Roman Igwebuike (Notre Dame) and defensive back Tavares Harrington (Michigan) are the most battle-tested defensive stars in the area.
“There should be no doubt about going 14-0 and winning [state],” Burrell said. “It would be the worst year we could have if we don’t do it.”
The Caravan features a new starting quarterback again, which appears to be the only possible chink in the team’s armor. Senior Ryder Startz, the backup last year, beat out Plainfield East transfer Brady Cloherty for the starting job. Talented sophomore Thomas Elliott is also waiting in the wings.
“There was a healthy quarterback competition in July,” Lynch said. “Brady has done a great job and had a great attitude. He is still learning and adjusting to Mount Carmel, to a new offense and what Catholic League football is about. He has kept a great mindset, competing and working every day. You never know. He is one play away.”
Lynch is impressed with Startz’s decision-making and speed.
“He does a good job, and we have tons of playmakers around him to help him, so when he is going through his growing pains, they can get him out of trouble,” Lynch said.
@michaelsobriensports Mount Carmel opens the season as No. 1 in the preseason Super 25. Michigan recruit Quentin Burrell is confident the Caravan will pull off a state title five-peat. #ihsa #football #mountcarmel #chicago #michigan ♬ original sound – michaelsobriensports
There won’t be much time for growing pains. The Caravan opens at ISU against highly regarded East St. Louis, another team loaded with major college talent, and then faces New Jersey power St. Joseph on ESPN in Week 2.
Mount Carmel has become the powerhouse team everyone loves to hate, and an IHSA practice-rule violation in early August set the drama in motion early.
“The winning we’ve done comes with the hate,” Igwebuike said. “They are going to hate you, and then they will love you. We need to keep grinding and get this fifth state title. Pressure is a privilege. We’ve been speaking about that all offseason.”
Every successful program keeps the intensity high in practice and on game day. But the overall mood around Mount Carmel in the preseason feels the same as the past several years. Lynch keeps things casual, joking with the players lounging on the couch in his office before practice.
“People say if it isn’t broken, there is no reason to fix it,” Lynch said. “We believe if it is not broken, break it. There are always new things people are doing to try and beat you. People are studying Mount Carmel, and they are studying us year-round. We have to break it. We have to find a new way of doing things. That has been our approach.”