"Morale wasn't bad, there was just a lot of uncertainty," O'Hara recalled of his first meeting with the J-E varsity players, just four days before the first scheduled game. "I told them I don't have any agenda. I don't care and don't know what went on, but we're not going to talk about it ever again."
B.J. O'Hara was a two-timeAll-American in college.
Photo by Chris Cecere
When a TV network announced recently that long-running daytime soap operas "All My Children" and "One Life To Live" were being canceled, cynics joked that they'd be replaced by live broadcasts of Jordan-Elbridge board of education meetings, epic dramas in their own right.
Since July 2010, the school board has suspended the high school principal and assistant superintendent of business and finance, fired the treasurer and bought out the last two years of the superintendent's contract. By the count of the local newspaper, there have been at least seven lawsuits. The district has proposed adding staff to process an avalanche of Freedom of Information Law requests.
The district's tab for legal help has reached about $150,000 this year, and the board proposes to budget $250,000 for next school year.
Just when some of the community furor had started to subside, the seemingly unthinkable happened in mid-March when the school board went against the recommendation of the interim superintendent and did not reappoint 30-year head coach Rick Young or JV coach Mike Smart for the 2011 season.
The vote came the day after the first official practice and two weeks before the regular-season opener.
Pat Smart (Mike's brother) immediately resigned as the varsity assistant, and other coaches at the school wanted no part of the lacrosse positions. The situation was desperate enough that Danks ran a pair of practices while she reached out to knowledgeable Syracuse-area observers for suggestions on an interim coach.
O'Hara's name stuck out.
"I was very aware of what he had done at the college level," Danks said.
Other than making sure the J-E job didn't interfere with being able to watch most of his son's high school games or with practices for the pro Rochester Rattlers, O'Hara didn't hesitate. Nor did he waste time contemplating the circumstances that created the J-E vacancy, instead channeling his energy into recruiting Regy Thorpe – newly named as head coach of the MLL's Hamilton Nationals – to help out.
"Everybody thinks they're right in this whole issue," O'Hara said. "Unfortunately, the kids got caught up in all that. They were without a coach. We didn't have a JV coach, we didn't have a modified coach. They've done a good job hanging together and there are even a couple of prospects out there. So we're going to get better."
They've already made strides, despite what the 1-7 record suggests. In a six-day span in mid-April, the Eagles lost to Syracuse CBA 13-10, took Onondaga to overtime and were knotted with Tully in the fourth quarter before losing 12-11. CBA and Onondaga are on the short list of contenders to challenge Skaneateles in the upcoming Section III tournament.
All that's holding the team back at this point is a lack of numbers. While Silver Creek won an improbable Section VI Class C championship with just 12 players two seasons ago, the Eagles' 18-player roster doesn't get a coach very far in the phenomenally deep Syracuse area.
"They're good kids," O'Hara said. "They want to be coached and they want to compete. The only thing missing is we're light on bodies – we only have six offensive players. But they keep going. They don't quit."
This won't be J-E's first winning season since an 11-8 mark in 2004, but it won't be for a lack of heart.
"We've got to keep learning and keep going," O'Hara said. "That's our mantra, to keep getting better each day. And we are."
