Zack Mahoney ’13 ran onto the field at the Carrier Dome to finally play his first game on April 5, 2015 in a Syracuse University football jersey. Even though it was only a spring scrimmage, Mahoney was beyond excited to reach his Division One NCAA football goal.

“To finally be at Syracuse has been a dream come true,” Mahoney said. “This place means a lot to me and there is so much history here that it’s truly an honor to be playing here.”

Mahoney’s football career developed at Lyons Township High School where he played varsity his junior and senior years. His junior year was spent battling Connor Onion ’13 for the starting position, but by his senior year, Mahoney had taken the starting quarterback spot. Even as a quarterback, Mahoney still did not get the title of a captain.

“Being a quarterback, he needed to control the guys, especially on offense,” former teammate and current Northwestern cornerback Matthew Harris ‘13 said. “And captain is just a title. There were many leaders on the team who did not necessarily have the title of captain and Zack was one of those guys. When he spoke, everyone listened to him.”

Following his LT experience, Mahoney decided to play football at College of Dupage where he was the starting quarterback during the 2014 fall season. But, after finishing his season, Mahoney created a Division One offer for himself.

“Coach Jon Beutjer and my head coach at COD both knew him [Tim Lester, Syracuse Offensive Coordinator] and they both told me to contact him, so I shot him an email and within a matter of days he emailed me back saying he was interested and wanted me to come play,” Mahoney said.

In only a month’s time, Mahoney found himself attending Syracuse University as a student and as a preferred walk-on for the football team. Throughout his college experiences, Mahoney said coaches at COD and LT kept him encouraged and kept him prepared.

“I believe I helped Zack with the mental as well as the physical aspect of the quarterback position,” LT position coach and former University of Illinois quarterback Beutjer said.  “So much of playing the position is played in between the ears, and I helped teach him the game of football.  Additionally, I worked with him on his throwing mechanics, footwork, hand-offs, and play fakes.  Zack is very gifted and blessed physically so I only had to tweak some minor technique points.”

Mahoney has left a lasting impression on the players he has been teammates with and continues to make strides towards his next goal of being put on scholarship and getting the starting quarterback position.

“Off the field he is an incredible guy and the work he put in for each game and even each practice was definitely noticeable,” Harris said. “You could tell that he would do anything to get to the next level, and having that mentality made him separate from any other quarterback I’ve ever played with.”