Crown Point High School has a new face that will lead the football team in 2021. Craig Buzea will take over the program on June 30th after spending the last 11 years at Homewood-Flossmoor in Illinois. The announcement comes after the Crown Point school board meeting on Monday evening. The hire is one of the biggest announcements in Region football in a long time.
Buzea will finish the Illinois football season in the spring as it was postponed from the fall due to COVID-19. After his final season at Homewood-Flossmoor, he will transition to Crown Point High School.
“When the CP job opened up it was just one of those jobs where I thought if that ever opened up, I would certainly want to look at it," Buzea said. "It’s a great community. I think the facilities, the administrators, and everything else lines us up to be successful,” said Buzea
Buzea has an overall record of 213 wins and 87 losses in 26 seasons. He led Homewood-Flossmoor to 10 straight playoff appearances, including an 8A state runner-up in 2014. Prior to that, Buzea had spent time coaching in the Region. He coached at Michigan City High School for 3 years, where he turned the program around, but the bulk of his time in the Region was at Portage High School. He spent 13 years there, which included 2 undefeated seasons and a 1994 5A state runner-up.
Buzea brings experience to the program and hopes to create a team mindset that focuses more on football, something he has done at all the schools he has coached at. Buzea emphasizes community engagement as something that will drive his football team. He is known for his winning culture, which is evident in his victories both on and off the field.
“I have always prided myself in doing things in the community. I don’t consider myself a coach of just a team, I consider myself a coach and a member of the community,” Buzea said. “We will do a lot of team community service in the community. A lot of people don’t know who the players are because they have a helmet on, so getting them out in the community will help them put names to faces and that will translate to the community supporting them at their games. Friday night everyone is going to want to go to the Crown Point football games.”
He credits Bill Dorulla, Crown Point’s athletic director as one of the best athletic directors to work for and is excited to begin there.
“Coach Buzea’s reputation as a football coach in Indiana and Illinois is exemplary," Dorulla said. "He builds championship teams wherever he coaches. In addition, he serves as an ambassador for his student-athletes. We are excited for our football program and community.”
Buzea has nothing but respect for Bill Dorulla and is thrilled for the opportunity.
“I think he’s one of the best athletic directors there is. I couldn’t think of working for another athletic director. I don’t respect anyone more than I respect Bill Dorulla,” said Buzea.
Buzea has always considered the Region home and feels that taking the Crown Point head coaching job was like a homecoming for him.
“I feel like I’m definitely a Region guy, I grew up in the Region, I never really left here. I started coaching in the Duneland, it’s like coming home for me,” said Buzea. “I still live in the area and never really left the area. After I left games in Illinois, driving home, I would listen to the radio to hear the Region scores.”
Players from all of Buzea’s teams have remained close to him throughout his life. He hopes to build relationships at Crown Point High School that will last a lifetime. Players can expect to leave Crown Point High School as better people, not just better football players.
“We want the players to be the best version of themselves they can be. The wins and losses will take care of themselves but winning is not the most important thing. I want these guys to leave our program better sons, better husbands, and better fathers. I want them to look back and say, ‘Crown Point football helped me get to where I am today,’” Buzea said.
Things have not been easy for Buzea this past year. In December of 2019, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. He spent most of 2020 doing chemotherapy, stem cell treatments, and a bone marrow transplant. His body now has no traces of Leukemia and he is in total remission. Buzea’s relationships he built throughout football inspired him through his fight to beat Leukemia. Former players, friends, coaches, and most importantly his family have helped him.
“I’m truly blessed. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t count my lucky stars that I had a donor,” said Buzea. “My family was there every day. Former players came to see me, friends, just a lot of support. They were fantastic throughout the whole process.”
Among those supporters was former Portage standout Albert Evans. Albert Evans played for Buzea at Portage and eventually went on to play at Purdue University. He also coached alongside Buzea at Homewood-Flossmoor. The 2 remained very close and Evan even considers Buzea like a second father to him. Evans has a tattoo on his leg that says, “Buzz Strong” which he got in support of Buzea’s fight with Leukemia.
“For me, the people who mean the most to me, I get a tattoo for them," Evans said. "For him, it was like encouragement and also to show how much he means to me. Whether he had Leukemia or not, I was probably going to get a tattoo because he just means that much to me.”
Buzea, who supported Albert throughout all his playing days, including college, was blown away by the gratitude shown by Evans.
“To think you have affected somebody in a way that he was going to put that on a body part, it meant the world for me,” Buzea said.
Buzea looks to build relationships like that at Crown Point High School and create a winning culture and community. Buzea hopes to lead the Bulldogs to success at the conference level and the state level.
There will be more feature articles on Coach Buzea and his relationship with players past and present, his battle with Leukemia, the Crown Point athletic department, and more.
Stay on the lookout at NWI.Life.