After setting 17 offensive team records, Rockford football coach leaves to join Harlem
Jefferson only won two football games this season, but the J-Hawks set 17 school records on offense with a sophomore quarterback.
It was the most promising season in six years for a school that has had a NIC-10 record 30 consecutive losing seasons. But, just like the last two times Jefferson was coming off a promising year, the J-Hawks will now have a new coach.
The last two times didn’t turn out well.
Quarterback Sebastian Bracius said the J-Hawks are not worried about coach Jake Arnold leaving to become an assistant at Harlem. At least not yet.
“You can’t say that right now,” said Bracius, who threw for 1,754 yards — only five short of the NIC-10 lead — and 20 touchdowns. “We don’t know who our new coach is or if he has a different style than Coach Arnold, if he is a coach that runs all the time. Or he could be a coach who passes all the time. We can’t tell you.”
More:How a unique offensive philosophy could flip Rockford Jefferson's football fortunes
Rick Schmitz ran all the time when he led Jefferson to a 4-5 record in 2011. But when he couldn’t get a teaching job in the building — which he maintained was a critical component to turning the program around — he resigned and Jefferson went 2-34 the next four years. Ken DuBose, also an assistant at Harlem, led Jefferson to a 4-5 record in 2016 — including a win over Hononegah — with James Dunner throwing for a then school-record 1,415 yards. But Jefferson then forced DuBose to resign over “procedural” issues and Jefferson has gone 6-43 since.
Can the J-Hawks keep moving forward this time?
“You always like to see things stay the same as they are progressing,” Jefferson athletic director Darrin Sisk said, “but life is full of changes. You have to learn to adapt. The kids will have to learn to adapt for the rest of their lives. We wlll provide a supportive environment and support them with the change.”
Sisk said Jefferson “is currently going through the interview process” and has attracted “a good amount of interest.”
Attracting interest is maybe what Arnold did best at Jefferson, a school that has finished last in the NIC-10 all-sports standings on a regular basis. He was also the school’s head track coach the last four years.
“When we took over the program, we had seven athletes,” Arnold said. “This year we were projected to have 45 registered athletes.”
Arnold will be the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator under Bob Moynihan, who coached Harlem to the NIC-10 title three years ago and to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history this year. Arnold will also be the sprint coach for the boys track team.
Arnold, 32, is also going to school to obtain his teaching degree. He said the discipline he brought to Jefferson football was as important as the high-flying offense.
More:Rick Schmitz resigns as Jefferson football coach
“We established a great accountability culture,” Arnold said. “Most of the kids developed discipline to be there every day and be what we call 'an every day guy.' Last year, we had 23 guys who showed up every day no matter what, which is huge for a program.
“I love everybody at J-Hawk nation. I just had an opportunity that presented itself. In America, we live in a land of opportunity. Coach Moynihan has been great to me since I’ve been in the conference. When this opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t turn it down. I’ve been turning down opportunities year-in and year-out to build at J-Hawk Nationland. But it was time for a change.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Jake Arnold leaves Jefferson to be Harlem assistant in football, track
