The spotlight is on Brendan Neilon, and he knows it.
As good as the Lawrence High Athletic Director has been with major coaching decisions in the past — Rhandy Audate with football … home run; Jesus Moore with boys hoop … grand slam – a giant hire looms for Lawrence High, the entire city and even the Merrimack Valley Conference.
The football job has reopened with Audate moving on to tend to his young family. Applications are being accepted now, and Neilon knows the right person must be found.
“The thing about football is that it sets the tone for the whole year, not just in sports but in school,” said Neilon. “It’s a big decision, for sure. We’ve been fortunate in the past, but we need to find the next person who understands just what this job takes.”
Audate and Mike Yameen before him certainly lived up to the responsibilities of the position.
Coaching football in Lawrence is a 12-month-a-year proposition. It has grown to be that in most communities – take a look around us and the dedication you see from our head coaches.
But in the cities, it’s especially necessary.
There are too many obstacles, too many athletes slipping through the cracks.
I keep harkening back to the story told to me by Lawrence High senior David Manon, who didn’t try football until his junior year.
Audate saw Manon in the fieldhouse, shooting hoops, and had to beg the kid to play football.
This past fall Manon was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star running back/linebacker thinking about football in college.
That’s the kind of immersion it takes for a coach to succeed.
Just look at the MVC this past fall. Contrast Thanksgiving with Lawrence and Dracut.
The Lancers played King Kong – aka intra-city rival Central Catholic – to a stalemate, dead even at 14-14 for 47 minutes, before falling on a last-minute Raider field goal.
Dracut High, which backed out of the conference schedule and nearly lost its season due to a lack of players, brought 17 active bodies to Methuen and got slammed, as expected.
My heart went out to the Middies this fall. Those kids were let down by the adults in charge. Years of neglect in that program had it scrambling just to stay alive. Those kids showed buckets of courage, fighting through a tumultuous season.
The children deserved better.
Neilon and his coaches over the years have done a terrific job making sure Lawrence does not sink that low.
This hire coming up is yet another major test.
Brooks reunion in Seattle
North Andover’s John McVeigh is a giant NFL fan, but the treat he got back on New Year’s Eve might have been the ultimate.
McVeigh, notable by his absence at the recent Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic, had good reason.
He made the trip to Seattle for New Year’s, where the Pittsburgh Steelers knocked off the Seattle Seahawks.
No, McVeigh is not a member of the “12s” in Seattle and he doesn’t carry a yellow Steelers “Terrible Towel.”
But the opportunity to watch Pittsburgh’s Pat Freiermuth, who played hoop for McVeigh at Brooks, face off against Seattle’s Jake Bobo, who was his neighbor there on campus, was just too much to pass up.
“It was incredible to watch two kids I’ve known since they were in elementary school playing against each other in the NFL,” said McVeigh, now the Head of School at Holderness School in Plymouth, N.H.
No doubt McVeigh is counting the minutes to the 2024 Christmas tourney.
Empty nest?
Give colleague Evan Applebaum (@evanapplebaum2) major credit for his work on “X,” the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for his in-game coverage of the big Andover High boys hoop win over Lawrence on Tuesday.
It’s a good thing Evan was there, writing, shooting video and Tweeting — because nobody else was!
Seriously, where were the Andover High fans? Faz’s kids pour their hearts on the floor every time they walk into a gym.
And the place was almost empty. Check out Evan’s videos.
I’m old. I remember the days of the “Haak’s Nest,” and how that student section ruled their domain. What the heck happened?
Apparently, they have all but flown the coop.
By the way, the Warriors host rival North Andover on Friday night at 7.