High School Top 10: Picking Up The Pieces At Cardinal O'Hara
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — It was hard to deal with, between the chaos on the sideline, on the field and sometimes even in the huddle. Cardinal O'Hara is a school with a rich football tradition, which took a major hit last year when the Lions finished 1-9, one of the worst seasons in the school's history amid losing their well-respected coach, Danny Algeo, to a heart attack in July just before the season. Paul Strus stepped into a no-win situation as interim coach, and stepped down last November.
Now O'Hara has turned to one of its own, BJ Hogan, a 2001 O'Hara grad who was part of the one of the greatest teams in the history of the area, playing on O'Hara with future NFL first-round draft pick Kevin Jones and Mike Lomas on the Lions' 2000 Catholic League championship team.
Hogan knows the clean up ahead of him. He arrives with a wealth of high-level experience, having coached defensive backs at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and before that a stay at Delaware Valley College.
He also inherits sturdy leaders, like 6-foot, 250-pound senior lineman Anthony Amoroso and 6-5, 300-pound junior two-way lineman Des Holmes. The seniors last year, sources say, answered back coaches, showed up for practice when they wanted and basically created an acid culture that the leaders on this team won't tolerate. One sequence last year, according to numerous sources, was when the seniors told their teammates not to show up for practice and just get up and leave.
"We're trying to get back to where we were and not be a laughing stock anymore," Amoroso said. "We felt confident in ourselves last year, but after a while, the team didn't respect the coaches and we became a bunch of individuals waiting for the year to end. We're not putting up with any of that nonsense this year. We believe in coach Hogan. This is night-and-day from last year. This is going in a good direction. I feel like with coach Hogan and his staff we're not going through the motions. We're learning with every practice. It's a great environment to be in. We're together as a team. Coach Hogan will turn this thing around.
"I know we're building something new here. We have as many freshmen as we do varsity players. They're learning how to win and what practice is really all about. They're going to win again here. It's nice to see where it's going and to be a part of that."
Holmes is getting some good college looks, and that could grow as he improves. He bore up through last season, and is will to do anything so he doesn't have to relive it.
"It was very ugly last year and at one point no one listened to the coaches at all, and that's on us, on the players," said Holmes, who started at defensive tackle last year. "There is no way I want to go through that again. The leaders on this team learned a lot from last year. There was no leadership last year. We believe in coach Hogan and what he's doing. It's great looking forward to practice and play football again. He's brought a whole new work ethic and it's spreading. I see very good changes ahead for us."
Hogan knew the situation he was walking into. He was a great two-way player at O'Hara who won through determination and hard work. He succeeded at Widener and did well at Tennessee-Chattanooga before taking on this challenge.
"To see the program at the bottom was frustrating, that was the main focus in coming back," Hogan said. "It's a process and it will take time. It's step-by-step, day-by-day and the school has been special to me, and always will be. O'Hara is an important place to me and I had a ton of success there. It's why I got into coaching, under coach (George) Stratts, coach (Sean) Sullivan, coach (Marty) Cull, all of those guys. I owe them and the school a lot. To turn this thing around is the key. We'll do it."
CBS Philly's Area Top 10 Power Ratings For Sept. 18, 2015
1. Imhotep Charter (Record: 2-0)
2. St. Joe's Prep (Record: 1-1)
3. Upper Dublin (Record: 2-0)
4. Archbishop Wood (Record: 2-0)
5. St. Augustine (Record: 1-0)
6. Coatesville (Record: 2-0)
7. Camden (Record: 1-0)
8. Timber Creek (Record: 1-0)
9. Downingtown East (Record: 2-0)
10. La Salle (Record: 2-0)
Southeastern PA Top 10 Power Ratings For Sept. 18, 2015
1. Imhotep Charter (Record: 2-0)
2. St. Joe's Prep (Record: 1-1)
3. Upper Dublin (Record: 2-0)
4. Archbishop Wood (Record: 2-0)
5. Coatesville (Record: 2-0)
6. Downingtown East (Record: 2-0)
7. La Salle (Record: 2-0)
8. Haverford School (Record: 2-0)
9. North Penn (Record: 1-1)
10. Malvern Prep (Record: 2-0)
