by 2001Eagle on Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:55 pm
Good one here:
In September of 2008, Trey Koziol had a room to sublet in a three-bedroom duplex in Boston that looked ready to collapse at any moment, and his friend and former teammate at Boston College, Ryan Poles, needed his first job in football.
Koziol was about to move on from his.
After playing tight end at Boston College, Koziol worked at the Fair Oaks Golf Club in Oakland, Tenn., which is near Memphis. Between maintaining the course and working on golf carts, Koziol wrote all 32 teams in the NFL, following the advice of Jim Bridge, his former position coach at Boston College. Two torn ACLs in the same knee ended his playing career, but he wanted to get back into the game he loved. He told NFL teams in print that he’d be “willing to take any sort of entry-level job that they had.”
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“I didn’t hear back for about six to eight months,” Koziol said.
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When Koziol did, he had already taken a job at Boston College as a graduate assistant after volunteering in their recruiting department. The golf course wasn’t for him. A career coaching football was more appealing. But then the Titans wrote him back. They were starting a paid internship program, and his eventual interview turned into his first NFL opportunity.
Boston College had no issue with that. The school encouraged Koziol to take it. But Koziol still wanted to help the football program that helped him.
He called Poles.
It was September. The college football season was in full swing. But in the NFL, final cuts were being made. The Bears had just released Poles, who had signed as an undrafted free agent and moved to Vermont.
“He was still figuring out what he wanted to do,” Koziol said.
“I’m about to take a marketing job,” Poles said.
Koziol asked Poles if he wanted his job at Boston College. Even better, it came with a room in an apartment — albeit one lacking heat or air conditioning — with some old teammates.
That’s if Poles wanted that, too.
“He called me back the next day,” Koziol said.
“I said, ‘Done,” Poles said.
“It’s funny,” Koziol said. “He basically kind of took over my life. He moved into my old bedroom.”
That’s how Poles got his first job in football. He and his future wife, Katie, moved into that dingy, one-bathroom duplex.
“His career took off from there,” Koziol said.
But so did Koziol’s.
Koziol turned that internship with the Titans into an extension and then a job as a pro scout. In 2013, Koziol joined Poles with the Chiefs. Last year, Koziol became one of the Bears’ first hires under Poles as the Bears’ co-director of player personnel, along with Jeff King.
Koziol oversees the Bears’ college scouting.
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“He’s almost like a professional brother, I would say, to a degree,” Poles told The Athletic. “Sometimes I think my kids like him more than they like me.”
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And then Poles laughed.
Most people do when they’re around Koziol.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles, left, and co-director of player personnel Trey Koziol were teammates at Boston College and have worked together in the NFL for the last 10 years. (Courtesy of the Chicago Bears)
On Koziol’s refrigerator is a picture of himself. He’s 3 or 4 years old. And he’s wearing an old Hutch Bears uniform.
“It kind of keeps you grounded in the morning, realizing what a journey it’s been and how cool it’s been,” Koziol said.
It’s also a reminder of how much work he has to do.
When it comes to scouting local players, Koziol provides something that Poles and others can’t but that he wants to be included: he grew up a Bears fan. Koziol is from Clarendon Hills, Ill., and played high school football at Hinsdale Central.
“The Bears were his team growing up,” Poles said. “He knows that history.”
Koziol can speak the local language when it comes to Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Devin Hester and Jay Cutler.
Like many Bears fans, those ties are a family matter. Koziol called his father, Don, his hero. Don was a Bears fan and so was his father. Dad and Grandpa attended the Bears’ 1963 championship win over the Giants at Wrigley Field. More than 20 years later, they went to New Orleans, along with Trey’s mother, Trudi, and a cousin and witnessed the 1985 Bears’ drubbing of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
“The guys you’re bringing in that are from the area, both players and staff alike, it means something more,” Poles said. “They’re fighting to get this thing on track more than anyone because they know what it feels like and how important it is.”
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Ken Schreiner was in his office at Hinsdale Central visiting with an assistant coach from Michigan State, who had an interesting question about Koziol.
“Is he really 6-foot-5?”
High school coaches tend to embellish the heights and weights of their players. But Schreiner didn’t do that. At first, he felt insulted. Why would he put that in the biography he mailed to all interested colleges?
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The assistant was there in Schreiner’s office after Hinsdale Central’s memorable 2002 season for more information on Koziol. College recruiting was different then.
“Well, yes, he is 6-5, to answer your question,” Schreiner replied. “Would you like to see him?
The coach did. But before Schreiner arranged it. He had a special request.
“If he is 6-foot-5, will you offer him today in my office on the spot?” Schreiner said.
The coach hesitated at first but replied, “Yes, I will.”
Schreiner was happy to hear that. Michigan State apparently liked Koziol’s athletic potential but wanted to confirm his measurements. When Koziol walked into Schreiner’s office, he ducked slightly under the doorway. He didn’t need to be measured.
Schreiner turned to the coach and asked him to repeat what he said earlier.
The offer was made.
“Trey, all of a sudden, was about 6-8,” Schreiner said. “His seat came off the floor.”
Hinsdale Central’s 2002 football team will be remembered as one of the school’s best. It was a special group. It was Schreiner’s final year in charge of the team. A year later, he was named to the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame.
It had a talented core of players that reached the Pop Warner championship as eighth graders in Hinsdale. It had a Division I quarterback in Brad Bower, who went to Illinois, and five others who earned All-State honors in Koziol, running back Brian Grzelakowski, offensive tackle Patrick McGrath and defensive linemen Steve Pilcher and Brian Griffin.
The Red Devils’ senior class went undefeated as freshmen and sophomores. Their one loss in the 2002 season came in the Class 8A semifinals against eventual state champion Lockport — a legendary back-and-forth, high-scoring game played in a packed stadium on a bitter cold day that is still talked about in the Chicago suburbs.
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“It’s the difference between kids who play football and kids who are football players,” said Griffin, the current head coach at Hinsdale Central. “And that team to a man, like every kid on that team, was a football player. They loved football.”
The fiercest battles came in practice. One of the drills that Schreiner ran on offensive days involved runs between the tackles and tight ends. Bags were placed on the ground. The area was limited. There would be contact — a ton of it. The best would go at it for six to 10 plays.
“It was a bloodbath,“ said Pat Richards, a longtime assistant coach at Hinsdale Central.
“I would literally hold my breath because the competition was so great,” Schreiner said.
As Hinsdale Central’s star tight end, Koziol was involved. If he played in 2022 instead of 2002, he’d probably play more with the receivers. He didn’t start playing tackle football until his freshman year because he was too big for the Pop Warner league at the time. But teammates quickly learned that he had great hands and was a load to tackle.
“Trey was unstoppable,” said Mike Hubbarth, a former receiver.
“What always stood out about Trey was that he was always competing,” Griffin said. “He always wanted to be better and always wanted to be the best at what he did — not only wanted to, but he was willing to work to do it.”
Hinsdale Central ran over and through its opponents. Andrew Karaba, a center, said the Red Devils once ran the same Iso play eight straight times against Lincoln-Way Central until they scored. No one could stop them. They had a D-I quarterback and still ran the ball.
Again, again and again.
“Trey played a big role in that aspect,” Schreiner said.
Not that Koziol or any other receiver complained about it. During the season, Koziol joined the linemen for “Hog Fest,” weekly Wednesday gatherings where ample amounts of meat were grilled and served. That team played and practiced with a purpose; it had camaraderie.
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“Those moments you have in high school football, no matter where your life takes you past that, playing for your hometown and playing in front of all the guys you grew up with,” Koziol said, “that still sticks with you the rest of your life.”
Trey Koziol oversees the Bears’ college scouting, so the NFL Draft is the culmination of a year’s work for him and his staff. (Courtesy of the Chicago Bears)
In 2013, Koziol called Poles to congratulate him. He and Katie had just welcomed their first child, Mason. It was two friends catching up on the phone. Koziol was a pro scout for the Titans; Poles was the Chiefs’ college scouting coordinator.
“Then at the end of the conversation in passing, (Poles said), ‘Hey, by the way, we may have a college opening available,’” Koziol said.
“We were looking for another scout to do our West Coast areas,” Poles said.
Kansas City was going through a regime change under new GM John Dorsey. Koziol didn’t think too much of it at the moment. His own contract was expiring in Tennessee, but he was happy working for the organization that opened the door for him, though it replaced GM Mike Reinfeldt with Ruston Webster in his time there.
“Throw my name in the hat,” Koziol told Poles.
Hours later, Dorsey called Koziol.
“It went from two buddies just cutting it up saying congrats on being a new father to John calling me saying, ‘Hey, do you want the Northeast or West Coast?’” Koziol said. “All of a sudden, I was like, ‘What have I done?’”
What he was doing was taking the next step in his career with Poles. Koziol already lived in the Northeast; Redondo Beach, Calif., sounded better. So, off he went in May 2013. The Chiefs promoted him to national scout in 2018.
Some of Poles’ strongest influences and mentors became Koziol’s: Dorsey, Chris Ballard, Brett Veach and Andy Reid. Lessons were learned about relationships, especially between GMs and head coaches and head coaches and their quarterbacks. He described Reid and Patrick Mahomes as “a match made in heaven.” But how Koziol evaluated quarterbacks, offensive linemen and other positions also improved.
“How those guys saw players helped me grow immensely as an evaluator,” Koziol said. “It’s learning the tricks of the trade, where the physical traits start to play in because coming from pro (scouting), you’re looking at a ready-made prospect, you’re not looking as much for where the developmental curve is going to come from.”
Compared with other teams, the Titans’ scouting operation was a smaller one under Reinfeldt, who hired Koziol, and then director of player personnel Lake Dawson (now with the Bills). There were only two pro scouts. But Koziol will remember Reinfeldt and Dawson as his first mentors.
“You really got a chance to be exposed to a lot and wear a lot of hats,” Koziol said.
Koziol was afforded patience by Reinfeldt and Dawson. He was told to build his own library of players. The more he watched, the more books he had in his stacks. In time, college players started to remind him of pro players.
“It’s really a matter of diligence,” he said.
It’s part of the message that he relays today to the Bears’ young scouts.
“The first reports you write are going to be awful,” Koziol said. “And you’ll look back at them and you’ll laugh, but it’s like any other job. It’s just continuing to practice and the more reports you write, you’ll find your voice and how you like to describe certain traits.”
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On Hinsdale Central’s football roster in 2002, there was an “Artemis Potts.” There was a “Doogie Howser.” Another player was a Tupperware salesman from the South Side of Chicago with a wife named Myrtle.
That started with Koziol. He had nicknames for his teammates.
“He definitely would tell jokes and make up silly backstories for people’s alter egos,” said Karaba, who is now a doctor and expert on infectious diseases at John Hopkins Medicine. “He knew how to be loose on the practice field, for sure.”
For some, those nicknames helped increase the competition at practice, especially when Doogie Howser beat “C Killer” — that would be cornerback Clint Buetikofer — in drills.
“He would create artificial drama,” said Hubbarth, aka Doogie Howser. “I caught a couple balls over Clint. Ninety percent of the time, he beat me up pretty bad. But he would always poke at Clint saying, ‘Oh! Doogie, he got you there!”
Hubbarth and Buetikofer were two of Koziol’s closest friends. He drove Buetifkofer to school, while Hubbarth has since met Poles, quarterback Matt Ryan (who was Koziol’s first college teammate) and others in the NFL.
“Trey loved having fun,” Buitikofer said. “He had a great knack for knowing when the time was right to be serious and when the time was right to poke a little fun at someone or have a little joke with somebody. He also knew how to use it as a motivating factor.”
Hinsdale Central needed it. That team took football seriously. Players, including Koziol, left other sports and joined the school’s track and field teams to get faster and stronger for football.
“I can say unequivocally, I never left the practice field with that group, feeling as though the entire team, whether it be a starter or whether it be a scout-team player …. that they could have done more that day,” Schreiner said. “And I’m not exaggerating when I say that.”
That’s where Koziol’s leadership style fit into the team. He was a walking, talking reminder that football was still meant to be fun.
“He always had a smile on his face and was always excited to be doing whatever he was doing,” Griffin said. “Not only are you able to stay tough and fight through adversity, but then you’re also able to have fun, which I think if you’re having fun while doing it, you’re more likely to maintain those long stretches. And I think he was a big part of the reason that made it fun.”
It extended to the classroom. Koziol took several Advanced Placement classes at Hinsdale Central, including AP European History with Christopher W. Freiler, who has published books on the subject.
Koziol started to refer to Freiler as Christopher “Westphalia” Freiler.
Everyone in class understood the reference and joke.
“The Peace of Westphalia was the treaty that concluded the 30 Years War, which was this terrible war in Europe that ravaged Europe in the 17th century,” said teammate McGrath, now an associate professor of English at Southern Illinois. “It was something that we studied in that class.”
And it was something that Freiler was aware of, too. He brought it up.
“Trey imagines that my middle initial is Westphalia,” McGrath remembered Freiler saying.
Everyone laughed.
“(Freiler) thought it was very funny, too,” McGrath said, chuckling like old times. “That kind of sense of humor was just a wonderful sense of humor that everybody could participate in and enjoy. It wasn’t mean; it wasn’t nasty. It wasn’t a lewd sense of humor or anything like that. It was just very sort of idiosyncratic. It absolutely fit with the moment.”
That’s Koziol then and now. His former coaches and teammates — that includes Poles — remembered his competitiveness. Koziol’s team won the bowling competition among teammates. He was very good at Madden. At practice, Koziol brought in his own JUGS machine — “somehow or another he got his hands on it,” Richards said — and when he left for Boston College, he donated it to the team.
But Koziol’s disarming sense of humor mattered as well, whether it was nicknaming his high school teammates or searching for the most disgusting beer he could find in college and sharing it with his friends. Wherever Koziol was, matching his wit at the poker table was as much a challenge as getting the right cards in your hands.
“If you go all the way back to college, he has a very unique way of bringing people together,” Poles said. “He was the social guy. He’s the one that kind of rounded up everybody to go do something. And it can be anything from putt-putt to the movies to a party.”
Trey Koziol, center, holding the ball, with assistant coach Pat Richards (in red shirt) and his Hinsdale Central football teammates. (Courtesy of Pat Richards)
Koziol knows how to read a room and people. In the scouting world, that’s a skill. Koziol’s play style also fit what the Bears want to be today.
“He was a tough SOB,” Poles said. “He would just fight you and scrap. … He had that gritty game that we’re looking for when we bring guys here.”
In his own front office, Poles sees future GMs. Assistant GM Ian Cunningham is next. He already turned down jobs this offseason. After him, there are co-directors of player personnel Jeff King and Koziol. Poles will tell you that they’re part of his succession plan.
“(Koziol’s) the glue; he brings people together,” Poles said. “He has a way of keeping everyone light and in a good mood and doing fun things. That’s always been him since college, and that’s where he’s special.”
When Koziol would call home from the road as a scout for the Titans and the Chiefs, it didn’t take him long to figure out what game his father was watching.
“You’re watching the Bears game today, aren’t you?”
“No, no, no, no. I’m not. We’re watching the Chiefs.”
His dad was lying.
“No, it’s OK,” Koziol said he’d reply. “It’s fine.”
Koziol understood the feelings. His family cheered for the Titans and the Chiefs because he worked for them, but the Bears were the Bears. They always will be.
“That never dies, right?” Koziol said. “Those roots are still there.”
They just need to grow again. He’s here to apply the water. Koziol’s father would like to attend another Bears championship game. Many in the Chicago area would.
“Anytime you have that little extra booster of purpose, it means something,” Poles said. “How cool would it be to be a kid from this area to get it back on track? And he knows that.”
(Top photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Bears)
Coach hard. Love hard.
