Downers Grove North will open the 2026 football season without the offensive coordinator who helped engineer a state semifinal run. Josh Croci, who ran the Trojans' offense for three seasons, has left for conference rival Glenbard West.

The move, reported by Shaw Local's Friday Night Drive, puts Croci in charge of the Hilltoppers' offense. He replaces John Sigmund, who had been on Glenbard West's staff since 2007.

The immediate question for DGN: who calls plays now?

No primary source has confirmed a replacement coordinator or whether the head coach will absorb those duties. That gap looms large for a program coming off its best season in recent memory.

The Trojans went 10-2 in 2025, earning the No. 15 seed in the IHSA Class 7A playoffs. They defeated Prospect 28-21, beat Glenbard West 19-7, and topped Lincoln-Way West 28-10 before falling to Brother Rice 45-17 in the semifinals on Saturday, November 22, 2025, according to Chicago Tribune playoff brackets.

That second-round upset of Glenbard West makes the coaching swap particularly pointed. Croci now installs his spread concepts for the team DGN knocked out of the postseason seven months ago.

"We are going to mesh the two a little bit," Glenbard West head coach Chad Hetlet told Shaw Local. "We have as good a running game as anybody in the state, I don't want to change that and sacrifice our identity. It will elevate our passing game with what Josh does."

DGN's defense, which shut out Oak Park-River Forest and Proviso West and held Hinsdale Central to seven points during the 2025 regular season, provides a foundation while the offensive staff turns over. But the Trojans' ability to compete for the West Suburban Silver title hinges on whether new play-calling can replicate what Croci built.

The season opens Saturday, August 22, 2026, at home against Morgan Park. The crosstown rivalry game against Downers Grove South follows Saturday, August 29. DGN travels to Hinsdale Central on Saturday, September 5, and hosts Glenbard West later in the fall, though the exact date for that reunion with Croci remains unconfirmed due to conflicting schedule sources.