Hinsdale Central coaches ‘pumped’ with Chicago Bears’ selection of alumnus Kiran Amegadjie

Hinsdale Central coach Brian Griffin was ready to go to bed early Friday before deciding to stay up to see who the Bears selected in the third round of the NFL draft. Once the Bears made the 75th overall pick a little after 9 p.m., Griffin couldn’t believe what he saw.

The Bears selected his former offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie.

Griffin started jumping up and down, filled with pride for Amegadjie, a 2020 Central graduate. After starting to play football as an eighth grader, Amegadjie had worked his way to the team he grew up supporting.

“Any time a former player gets recognized for all the hard work that they’ve put in is super rewarding to see,” Griffin said. “You want them to find the success that they want to find. I was super pumped.”

Amegadjie became the third Central alumnus selected in the NFL draft since 2018. All three were offensive linemen. Brian Allen, who graduated from Central in 2014, was selected by the Rams in the fourth round in 2018, while 2016 alum Doug Kramer was drafted by the Bears in the sixth round in 2022. Kramer is still with the Bears.

Griffin had a feeling Amegadjie could climb up to the higher rounds after teams drafted seven offensive tackles in the first round Thursday. Once teams drafted four more in the second round, Griffin figured it was only a matter of time before a team took a chance on Amegadjie.

“[The Bears] see what he’s shown is that he’s going to put in time, effort, whatever it takes to maximize his potential,” Griffin said. “That’s probably his biggest strength apart from all the great physical attributes that he has.”

Griffin watched Amegadjie’s dedication first as a coach within the Red Devils program, then as the head coach in 2019 before Amegadjie’s senior season. Amegadjie joined the program as a sophomore, but even then Griffin saw how different the lineman’s athleticism was compared with other big players he competed against.

He’s also very smart.

Amegadjie spent hours studying how to put himself in the right positions in order to take advantage of his then-6-foot-5, 260-pound frame. By his senior season, he had become one of the top offensive linemen in Illinois and earned himself a spot at Yale, where he garnered All-Ivy League honors in 2022.

“He had that desire to get better, do the things right, work at little things to put himself in a spot to go to Yale,” Griffin said. “At Yale he did the same thing, worked his butt off to get stronger, get more flexible, do the things that a college-level offensive lineman needs to do to find success.”

Red Devils offensive line coach Ryan McHugh thought Amegadjie was bound for success the first time he saw Amegadjie during his junior season. McHugh walked around the field before the game when he saw Amegadjie’s big figure get ready for warmups with the rest of the offensive line.

“Where do they get these guys?” McHugh recalled asking.

A year later, Amegadjie became his guy. McHugh could tell Amegadjie was new to the game but eager to learn. Amegadjie quickly picked up the advanced techniques McHugh taught him and used his length to lean on and overpower his opponents in pass protection and run blocking.

Amegadjie also developed an edge, nastiness toward the end of his senior season.

“By the end of that senior year, you could tell he was flipping that switch,” McHugh said. “When you watch him at college, it’s amazing what he’s progressed to.”

Amegadjie was limited to four games last year at Yale because of a quadriceps injury and didn’t participate in the physical tests at the NFL Scouting Combine at the beginning of March. But Bears co-director of player personnel Trey Koziol wasn’t concerned about the injury and said Amegadjie was medically cleared by the team’s doctors.

“Any time a former player gets recognized for all the hard work that they’ve put in is super rewarding to see. You want them to find the success that they want to find. I was super pumped.”

—  Brian Griffin, Hinsdale Central head coach

Bears general manager Ryan Poles was excited for Amegadjie’s potential. Poles said Amegadjie projected to be a swing tackle with his 6-foot-5, 323-pound frame. Amegadjie also could push to become a starter one day, even though Poles didn’t think Amegadjie would push Bears left tackle Braxton Jones for a starting spot this year.

But Poles didn’t want to put a ceiling on Amegadjie’s potential.

“We’ve struggled with flexibility in the past, so he has that ability, and then we’ll see where he ascends to,” Poles said. “If that means competing to start this year or next year, that’s great. But if he ends up being just a really good offensive lineman, you can’t have enough.”

McHugh doesn’t doubt Amegadjie can get there. He’s seen Amegadjie do it once, why can’t he do it again?

“I really feel he’s going to keep progressing,” McHugh said. “I feel like his work ethic and his drive, him being here in Chicago and playing for the hometown team, I think he’s going to keep working. I think he’s got that physical skill set and those gifts to really put in the work and take that next step.”