Weidman has best winning percentage of all active league coaches
NEAL WEIDMAN has led the Lynnfield Pioneers football team to a record of 56-17 in his first seven seasons. His winning percentage of .767 is the highest among all current CAL football coaches. (Tom Condardo Photo)
Published in the August 19, 2015 edition
By TOM CONDARDO
LYNNFIELD — The sun is setting earlier and back-to-school ads are everywhere, which means the high school football season is just around the corner. The Pioneers start practice next Monday, but there’s been plenty of offseason action, particularly when it comes to the men who prowl the sidelines. Of the 11 schools in the two-division Cape Ann League, four will start the season with new head coaches. Three of the six new head men in Lynnfield’s Baker Division will be first timers.
Of the remaining seven coaches, Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman sports the highest all time winning percentage. At 56-17 for his first seven seasons, Weidman’s .767 winning mark is easily the best in both divisions. Ed Gaudiano of Newburyport is second with a 172-118 (.593) record in his 28 years. Andrew Morency of the Pioneers’ chief rival, Hamilton-Wenham, is third with a 54-39 mark in his nine years.
The dean of CAL coaches, Steve Hayden, who begins his 34th year as head coach at Pentucket, comes next with a 197-152 (.564) record. Barring something unforeseen, Hayden should hit the 200–win mark this season. Jeff Wall of North Reading at 56-70 (.444), former Pioneer assistant coach and captain Pat Sheehan, who is the current Triton head coach at 19-36 (.345), and Glen Gearin of Amesbury at 3-8 (.273) in his first season last year, round out the rest of the returning CAL coaching group.
Weidman and the Pioneers will be facing three new coaching staffs this season in Baker League play. At Manchester-Essex, long time head coach Mike Athanas stepped down after 11 seasons at the helm of the Hornets. He won three straight Commonwealth Athletic Conference titles from 2006-2008, including a 13-0 season and a Super Bowl title in 2008. He will be replaced by long time Beverly assistant Jeff Hutton who coached the offensive line and defensive ends. Hutton was part of a staff that guided the Panthers to Super Bowl championships in 2010 and 2012.
Georgetown is getting its third head coach since 2012 as Eric McCarthy takes over for Justin Spurr who leaves after a single season. The 30-year-old McCarthy has been a college assistant for the past five years, four at Plymouth State and last year at Pace.
Ipswich dipped into the college ranks for its new head coach as well, tapping Endicott assistant Kevin Fessette to take over the Tigers. Fessette, who also been an assistant at RPI, replaces former Ipswich player and assistant coach Greg Brotherton who stepped down after two years. After the stability of 36 years of Jack Welch in charge, Ipswich has had three head coaches since 2001.
Although there won’t be a change at the top in Hamilton-Wenham, the Generals will be making a significant addition to the staff in former North Reading offensive coordinator Ed Melanson. The area’s top guru of the run-heavy single wing, Melanson left the Hornets last year after helping lead them to three straight winning seasons running his offense. Though not named offensive coordinator at H-W, Melanson will surely install some single wing formations into the Generals’ attack.
In the CAL Kinney Division, Masconomet will have a new head coach after Jim Pugh left after 26 seasons. Gavin Monagle, who spent the last seven years as an assistant to Pugh, will replace him. Monagle will get his first action as head man when the Chieftains host the Pioneers in the first scrimmage of the year on Sunday, August 30.
