St. Joe's Coach Poll
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Just to stir things up........Infante. Brooks lost more big games than he won. Plus, Infante knows how to handle the parents and administrations better!!
Infante hands down. Way better Xs and Os. Took the Prep to a whole different level...
Brooks had a huge success in taking a Prep football program from very weak to very strong in just a few years. And we'll never know how far those '01,'02, '03, and '05 teams would have gone in the state playoffs if PCL teams had been eligible. He also changed the horizon for high school football in the area by playing the best opposition he could find in Ohio, North Jersey, and Maryland. But in close games his teams seemed to lose as many as they won, and there were some losses (O'Hara in the '04 championship, LaSalle at Thanksgiving in '05 and in the '06 championship, Roman in the '07 championship, and at least one of the Malvern games toward the end) where, at least in my opinion, the team lost in part because they were too tight. And there weren't many times under Brooks when the Prep won games they went into as underdogs. In the big picture, though, it's clear Brooks was a real positive for Prep football.
The situation Infante came into was difficult. The Prep community, especially the football part of it, was very divided over the firing of Brooks, and most of the high-profile players left before and just after Infante arrived. But after just two years they were completely back. And consider what Infante's team has done since 2013. They've beaten their arch-rival (LaSalle) 11 of 12 times, including in several close games, They've beaten Wood handily the three times they've played them. And they've won a lot of close games against good teams (Dallas Jesuit, Neshaminy and PCC in 2013, Mt. Crmel, Parkland and Pine-Richland in 2014, Evangel, St. Ignatius,and St. Joseph's Montvale in 2015, Bosco and North Penn in 2016, Tampa Jesuit, St. Peter's, and Coatesville in 2017, and St. Peter's, Good Counsel, and Harrisburg this year.
I had the same thought. Granted he makes a good living at the Prep but I would think he wants the next step.......NCAA. Whether it's Temple or someone else, I think he almost has to move on. Maybe not.
It's an impressive sign when your name comes up, rumor or not. He's a compeitor and I would expect he wants the challenge. I doubt Temple is right spot, but he is capable of a sizable jump.
Brooks did a great job building the Prep Football brand, and in that era, was one of the best, if not the best, and a damn good offensive line coach as well.
Infante has taken them to another level in many aspects. Hard to compare the two eras. But both have left incredible impressions on the program, and that can't be argued by anyone.
Infante has taken them to another level in many aspects. Hard to compare the two eras. But both have left incredible impressions on the program, and that can't be argued by anyone.
I suspect that Infante is much better cut out to be a high school coach than a college coach and that he knows it. Coaching 14-17 year olds is very different--and in no way less important or less difficult--from coaching 18-22 year olds. And I agree with what I think GG is suggesting that going from being a head coach in high school to being a head coach in college is not a route many can manage successfully.
Where do you prep guys think gabe fits or has the most success, Dl, ll or lll? Devlin made move to Ursinus, gabe go that way locally or somewhere a bit higher..
Hard to tell who was/is better; one built from a dismal program while the other took it to another level.
Most are just outsiders looking in, but it would be more interesting to see one of these top tier coaches take an average or below average program and build a great one. How about either coach takes the Father Judge job and see how they do.
I guess it doesn’t matter anyhow.
Congrats to Prep.
Most are just outsiders looking in, but it would be more interesting to see one of these top tier coaches take an average or below average program and build a great one. How about either coach takes the Father Judge job and see how they do.
I guess it doesn’t matter anyhow.
Congrats to Prep.
Bahahahahahahaha.....joking right? Maybe as a Grad Assistant. Are people that naive or stupid to think a FBS, FCS, even Division II program would hire a High School Head Coach as a Head Coach? Devlin recruited better than Infante and the best he got was a lower level D3 assistant job at Ursinus.
He's on the board of USA football, one of two high school coaches. I believe the other is from Bishop Gorman in LV. The remainder of board are current or former NFL and college players, coaches and front office personnel. I believe Bill Polian is or was there. He travels nationally as one of the preeminent heads up football trainers. He visits high schools and colleges. He's far better known nationally than you realize.
And where do college football coaches come from? One of the pipelines is High School. Ever hear of Mueller High School and Gerry Faust? .
Coach Infante does a great job with the USA Football curriculum. He makes it entertaining while informative.
There have been lots of college coaches that got there start in the high school coaching ranks. Now you dont go from directly from high school to D1 head coach. They often take the Devlin route and then slowly work your way up. Urban Meyer, Paul Johnson, Gus Malzahn among others all got their start in high school.
I know Tulla but SOL#1 said it doesn't happen. Notre Dame, probably thee #1 destination for coaches and they picked a HS coach! Wasn't Doug Pederson a HS coach just 5 years ago?? SOL#1, it does happen, more than you think.
Agreed, but those guys (other than Devlin) were out of high school coaching long before they were Infante's age. Also, I don't think there's much chance of Devlin becoming a D1 head coach (not a reflection on his abilities).
Lord have mercy Gerry Faust is theeeeeeeeee #1 poster child of why a high school coach will never move up to division 1. That decision still stings. The guy went to Akron after ND and it was a disaster there. Don't let the nostalgia of time change the fact that that single hire insured older high school coaches are not the candidates for D1 college jobs. I mean there is more precedent for coaches going from high school to the NFL that established HS coaches going to D1 NCAA. How can you not admire what Infante and Prep have done, but do yourselves a favor and stop drinking during the day.
I agree with 6days... lets do the math..at prep he has his pick of the top HS players in the tri state area...and an alumni that loves him..
pettine went from a HS coach to a film guy... he said in an interview that we took a large pay cut just to get his foot in the door.. I'm guessing a school like Temple would start at a low 7 figure salary.. I don't see them giving that to someone with zero recruiting experience at the D1 level..
If yu are going to compare Peterson as a HS coach that made the jump.. your forgetting one little thing.. he was an NFL QB for 15 years.. plus had a godfather with Reid.. and had an in with Laurie...
pettine went from a HS coach to a film guy... he said in an interview that we took a large pay cut just to get his foot in the door.. I'm guessing a school like Temple would start at a low 7 figure salary.. I don't see them giving that to someone with zero recruiting experience at the D1 level..
If yu are going to compare Peterson as a HS coach that made the jump.. your forgetting one little thing.. he was an NFL QB for 15 years.. plus had a godfather with Reid.. and had an in with Laurie...
I’m sure the jump from high school to college is difficult. I think it’s insane to assume Infante, or the vast majority of high school head coaches, could be immediately hired as a D1 head coach. However, I think it’s reasonable to assume they could be hired as an assistant. For reference, today Mike Locksley (new HC of Maryland; former OC at Alabama) just hired Dematha’s head coach to an assistant role. College head coach’s are looking for great recruiters. Recruiting is the name of the game.
Am I the only person here who watches college football? One of the defining traits of the spread era has been high school coaches successfully making the transition to college.
Art Briles set national offensive records in his version of the Air Raid coaching in Texas high schools. He went from high school coach in Texas to Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech. After three seasons, he was hired as the head coach at Houston. He won a pair of conference titles at Houston, then took the Baylor job where he set offensive records and coached a Heisman winner. He went from high school to college head coach in three years and high school to Big 12 head coach in 8 years.
Gus Malzhan is the most successful high school coach in Arkansas history. He went from the head coach at Springdale High School to the offensive coordinator at Arkansas, then from Arkansas to the OC at Auburn, where he won a national title calling plays for Cam Newton. That got him the head job at Arkansas State and now he's the head coach at Auburn - one of the biggest programs in college football. He went from high school to head coach the SEC in 8 years.
Chad Morris was one of the innovators of the spread in Texas high school football, winning back-to-back state titles at Lake Travis. He went from head coach at Lake Travis to offensive coordinator at Tulsa, and within one year was hired as the OC at Clemson. After his first year at Clemson, he was made the highest paid coordinator in all of college football. He was hired as the head coach at SMU, and last offseason took the head job at Arkansas. From high school to highest paid assistant in college football in three years, and from high school to SEC head coach in nine years.
Kerry Coombs was a high school coach in Cincinnatti for 25 years, including 16 turning Colerain into a national power. He went from Colerain to Cincinnatti as the d-backs coach in 2007 when he was 48 years old. in 2011, he got hired by Urban Meyer at Ohio State, where he coached the secondary until last offseason, when he was hired by the Tennessee Titans as their defenive backs coach. High school to Big 10 assistant in 4 years, and high school to NFL assistant in 11 years.
Finally, my own college contemporary, Chris Partridge, was the head coach at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey, where he built them into a national power that beat Bosco and Bergen Catholic. He got hired as a director of player personnel at Michigan in 2015, and was promoted to linebackers coach then special teams coordinator. He's probably a year or two away from landing a defensive coordinator position at a smaller FBS program - then who knows?
Terry Smith at Penn State is another example. 12 years as the head coach at Gateway, now he's the assistant head coach, d-backs coach, and recruiting coordinator at Penn State. He went from the WPIAL to the Big 10 in two years.
I have no idea what Infante's goals or aspirations are. But being a college coach at a big time program is not unprecedented for elite high school coaches, particularly recently.
Art Briles set national offensive records in his version of the Air Raid coaching in Texas high schools. He went from high school coach in Texas to Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech. After three seasons, he was hired as the head coach at Houston. He won a pair of conference titles at Houston, then took the Baylor job where he set offensive records and coached a Heisman winner. He went from high school to college head coach in three years and high school to Big 12 head coach in 8 years.
Gus Malzhan is the most successful high school coach in Arkansas history. He went from the head coach at Springdale High School to the offensive coordinator at Arkansas, then from Arkansas to the OC at Auburn, where he won a national title calling plays for Cam Newton. That got him the head job at Arkansas State and now he's the head coach at Auburn - one of the biggest programs in college football. He went from high school to head coach the SEC in 8 years.
Chad Morris was one of the innovators of the spread in Texas high school football, winning back-to-back state titles at Lake Travis. He went from head coach at Lake Travis to offensive coordinator at Tulsa, and within one year was hired as the OC at Clemson. After his first year at Clemson, he was made the highest paid coordinator in all of college football. He was hired as the head coach at SMU, and last offseason took the head job at Arkansas. From high school to highest paid assistant in college football in three years, and from high school to SEC head coach in nine years.
Kerry Coombs was a high school coach in Cincinnatti for 25 years, including 16 turning Colerain into a national power. He went from Colerain to Cincinnatti as the d-backs coach in 2007 when he was 48 years old. in 2011, he got hired by Urban Meyer at Ohio State, where he coached the secondary until last offseason, when he was hired by the Tennessee Titans as their defenive backs coach. High school to Big 10 assistant in 4 years, and high school to NFL assistant in 11 years.
Finally, my own college contemporary, Chris Partridge, was the head coach at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey, where he built them into a national power that beat Bosco and Bergen Catholic. He got hired as a director of player personnel at Michigan in 2015, and was promoted to linebackers coach then special teams coordinator. He's probably a year or two away from landing a defensive coordinator position at a smaller FBS program - then who knows?
Terry Smith at Penn State is another example. 12 years as the head coach at Gateway, now he's the assistant head coach, d-backs coach, and recruiting coordinator at Penn State. He went from the WPIAL to the Big 10 in two years.
I have no idea what Infante's goals or aspirations are. But being a college coach at a big time program is not unprecedented for elite high school coaches, particularly recently.
Beans - If Temple wants to keep someone there and have no drop off..... Ed Foley is their guy. He was on Goldens's and Rhule's staff at TU and has local ties, know his shit and would win.
No you’re not Rover,
At the risk of sounding heretical, it’s my favorite level of FB and sport, not counting billiards til losing my balabushka in a Miami match 30 years ago; 1 pocket.
Great egs of HS-to-college coaches. So Rover, what’s your assessment of EPC-S with Beca and Freedom going down hard? Wasn’t surprised they lost, just the margins. On paper, vids and conventional media, they looked like decent teams. What gives?
Hey Stalk, I can’t say I was surprised. I think Freedom was either the weakest or second weakest D11 champ since the PCL joined in 2008 (depending on how you feel about 2016 Parkland). To have a chance against SJP, you need to be big and physical up front, with speed at the skill spots, with at least one all state/Division I type guy to get the ball to. Freedom had the size and physicality up front, but just not the level of skill guys you need to compete against SJP. A couple nice high school players, but nobody that’s going to play on Saturdays.
As for Bethlehem Catholic - I don’t think Joe Henrich is a good coach. They’ve been really talented, but they do a tremendous amount of dumb stuff (penalties, turnovers, mental mistakes) and don’t do fundamental stuff well (they’re the worst tackling good team I’ve ever seen, year in and year out). Henrich is Becahi’s admissions director and has connections with FASST training and their 7 on 7 teams, so he recruits and lands really good kids, but I don’t think he’s the guy to get teams over the hump.
As for Bethlehem Catholic - I don’t think Joe Henrich is a good coach. They’ve been really talented, but they do a tremendous amount of dumb stuff (penalties, turnovers, mental mistakes) and don’t do fundamental stuff well (they’re the worst tackling good team I’ve ever seen, year in and year out). Henrich is Becahi’s admissions director and has connections with FASST training and their 7 on 7 teams, so he recruits and lands really good kids, but I don’t think he’s the guy to get teams over the hump.
Infante could absolutely coach at FBS level if he wanted but he's starting as an assistant who in addition to being able to coach better be able to recruit. Anyone who thinks he's a serious candidate for the Temple head coaching job is out of touch with reality. Same thing when people mentioned him for Villanova or Delaware. Doesn't work that way. You get in, pay your dues on the road like everyone else and prove your value. Other then Gerry Faust 40 years ago which I'm sure many AD's want to use as their precedent mandate to hire a HS guy today. Quick way to soup line. I don't even want to get started on USA Heads Up football but I don't think being on the board of a NFL marketing campaign gets a HS coach a college head coaching job.
If Infante wants to coach in college, it’ll be because of recruiting. Particularly if McCord is a five star guy, it would make sense to offer Infante a spot on staff to grease those wheels. That’s how Partridge got his foot in at Michigan. Malzahn was Mitch Mustain’s HS coach then followed him to Arkansas. Or if a program wants to lock down Philly (mike locksley coming in at Maryland?) she needs a coach with that pipeline.
That's a pretty good assessment. Brooks was about as an intense workaholic as you can get with a true love for the school. His game performance suffered somewhat because of that intensity. You could almost see the wires in his head sparking during games. That's a tipping point in Infante's favor. Brooks more than anyone to raise the profile of not just SJP but also the entire PCL which I feel is the best league in the state and probably one of the best leagues in the country.
Rover,
Thanks. None will play on Saturdays meaning upper echelon D1 schools? That is a surprise. Did seem the conference allowed a lot of points this year. But, D seems to be an afterthought at many schools in their rush to emulate the BIG-12.
Why not play beyond their borders with 7/8 conference games? Did Freedom have to play ES-S and PM-W per crossover agreement. Too bad they don’t come down here to SE PA or to District-3 to play MP-Commonwealth or LL-1 teams like they (Easton, Parkland) used to. Could also engage Jersey teams.
About Beca, they same is said of Coach Weachter at Harrisburg’s McDevitt….in some circles….that they never get over the hump. And wow, have they had some teams.
Both very smart talented coaches. They are a lot more alike than most people would believe. Brooks works as a high profile lawyer and put in 60 plus hours a week at his law firm during the season. Also not being in the building is also a major disadvantage. That makes a huge difference
How did that work out btw? The comment I was referring to was Infante becoming the HEAD COACH at Temple was ridiculous. Many High School Head Coaches start out as assistants. I guess Temple didn't see the wisdom of some of these posters because they hired Manny Diaz of U of Miami, despite Infante excellent work with Under Armour All Star game or whatever....
