Cardinal Spellman High names football head coach, well two to be exact

“My first speech to them was ‘I believed in you in the very beginning. I expected you guys to win every game. Yes, we took some losses and, yes, we lost some coaches. ..."

Jequan Johnson recalled one of his favorite memories from his half-season interim co-coach of the Cardinal Spellman football team this past fall.

"... But we’re here," Johnson said, referencing himself and fellow co-coach Ryan Donovan. "And we believe.”

On Jan. 26, the duo's interim tag was removed. Johnson and Donovan were officially named co-head coaches, building upon the Cardinals' inspired trip to the Division 6 Final Four as the bracket's No. 13 seed.

They earned the interim gig after former coach Kahn Chace stepped down on Oct. 7 (one day after a 34-3 road loss to Bishop Fenwick) citing harassment from parents. Chace replaced longtime coach Ron St. George, who retired ranked with the ninth-most wins in state history, in July 2021.

More:Cardinal Spellman High football coach resigns mid-season citing harassment from parents

“When I say 'I believe', (the players) always repeat ‘We believe,’” said Johnson, 37. “You could see it in their eyes. They felt it. ... Two coaches (left) in a year and a half. Those seniors, they probably thought it was because of them. And what I needed them to know is, I believe in you. They went out and showed it on the field. They played with passion, they played with pride.”

In the midseason coaching shifts, Johnson, a 2004 Weymouth High graduate, took over the defense, and Donovan, a 2014 Plymouth South graduate, oversaw the offense. Assistant coaches Dan Lewis and Scott Tucker were also promoted to have influential voices in coaching the team amidst the deep playoff run.

“It was definitely a personal challenge, but between myself and the rest of the staff, we were able to put together a good game plan to finish out the season. We made some changes on offense and defense," said Donovan, who is 27 years old. "And the kids bought in. They ended up making that nice run. It was great. We were happy to be a part of it.

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“It’s a huge credit to the kids," said Donovan. "They could’ve just rolled over. Our message was, we’re a good team with a lot of good players. There’s just a few things we can do better. We just told the kids we believe in them. They’re good players. Go out, execute, do what’s asked of you and they did just that.”

A Cinderella story to build on

After finishing the regular season with a 3-5 record, the Cardinals rattled off upset wins over No. 4 Winthrop (21-8 final) and No. 5 Blackstone Valley (14-13 final) en route to nearly escaping the semifinal round against top-ranked Stoneham (24-17 final), a game in which Spellman surrendered the winning 54-yard TD with 8:42 left.

"Eight minutes is the only thing that goes through my head,” said Johnson. "(It sticks with me) to this day. I want to put it on the board every day I walk into school. Eight minutes from the state championship.”

A Final Four win would have marked Spellman's first appearance in the state title game since 2011, when the Cardinals lost to Mashpee, 34-8, in the Eastern Mass. Division 4 Super Bowl. The team capped the season with a 28-20 loss to Archbishop Williams on Thanksgiving.

More:Undefeated state champs and more: South Shore High School Football All-Scholastics

The good news, Johnson says, is the team will return nine starters from each side of the ball. The bad news is, one of the departures is versatile All-Scholastic first-teamer Jack Duffy, who threw for 1,347 yards and 15 TDs at quarterback, rushed for 1,173 yards and 10 TDs, intercepted two passes and made 108 tackles on defense and kicked 19 extra points and three field goals. He accounted for 193 points and 2,625 all-purpose yards last season.

Last year's team rostered 11 juniors and 13 sophomores, all now in line to take on bigger roles.

“It built a lot of character. They knew how to take adversity,” Johnson said of last season's experience. “In everything they do – on the football field, they felt more confident in each other; in the classroom, they felt more confident. Grades picked up. And the sense of self-pride. With those wins, you could feel the energy. You could see it in them. I see it in them during the basketball season. They no longer think they’re just losers that coaches quit on – they believe they can go and do anything. I see it all around the school. I see it in everybody.”

An unorthodox coaching tree

By our count, there aren't any local high school football coaching staffs with two designated leaders at the helm.

That doesn't mean it won't prove to be successful, though.

“It’s very unique. Obviously it’s very uncommon," Donovan said. "You don’t really see it happen, but the way things happened last year, we were thrusted into some leadership roles. (Jequan and I) were both prepared for it. It’s kind of how things ended up working out. We’ve always fed off each other."

At Plymouth South, Donovan played wide receiver and cornerback until he graduated and became a student assistant coach for the UMass-Amherst football team, a position he held for over two years in which he spent time handling personnel, recruiting, video coordination and even some on-field X's and O's. He later branched out to take a similar position at Harvard for one season.

Last year was Donovan's second year as an assistant at Spellman. Prior, he spent time as an athletic administrator at MacDuffie School in Granby, approximately two hours west of Brockton. He now teaches physical education at Spellman.

“I love the game. It’s given so much to me. I’m so blessed to have had so many great coaches growing up across all different sports, football in particular," said Donovan, who played for longtime Plymouth South coach Scott Fry. "I had a couple years where I wasn't involved in football at all – no coaching, no playing – and I missed the game so much. I had to get back.”

Johnson, a Weymouth native, played college football at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York, after suiting up as a running back/defensive end/cornerback hybrid his senior year for the Wildcats.

He spent the past six years coaching in youth football Weymouth, most recently his son's teams from second to eighth grade before his son enrolled at Catholic Memorial for his eighth-grade school year this fall. Johnson coached the Weymouth freshman team for two years before he started assisting at Spellman in 2021.

“I wanted to get varsity experience and thought maybe in 3-4 years I’d be able to apply for a head coaching job," said Johnson, who also coaches the Spellman freshman boys basketball team. "When I was thrust into that position (midseason), it was exciting, a little bit scary, not knowing if I was ready to be the full head coach of a high school team. But believing in the disciplines I’ve been taught in how to teach the game, and going with that, it felt great."

The two coaches don't foresee coexisting becoming an issue.

“There are no egos,” said Johnson. “We work very well together. We both have the same message to send to the kids: this is not about football, it’s about making you better men. That’s what we’re trying to teach them. As you become a better man, you become a better football player.”

Johnson admitted that if he had been given the coaching job solo, he still would've wanted Donovan back to take the reins of the offense.

“Jequan’s an awesome dude. He’s just so stoic. He never really breaks; he’s so even-keeled. He’s so positive for the kids, never gets down either," Donovan said. "It’s a good balance between us because I’m a little more passionate – not to say he’s not – but I exude that passion, I’m a little more vocal. But he’s always there to make sure the kids are locked in. He’s got that attitude and personality to him, he pulls the kids in and they listen to him.”

After Chace's departure, co-coaches guided the team to a 3-4 finish the rest of the season, though in the final five games of the season, Spellman outscored its opponents 106-77 (3-2 record).

“It’s not easy to be a head coach," Donovan said of the configuration. "It definitely alleviates some of that pressure because (Johnson) has strengths that are my weaknesses, and I have strengths that are his weaknesses. We’re able to culminate that all together as one big family, one big program. ...

"... I’m so happy with how things have worked out. I’m so excited to be a part of the rich tradition and history of Spellman football.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Two new Spellman High football coaches set to resume last year's run