By John Raffel
Jim Ahern has ended his sixth year as coach of Lansing Catholic’s football team with a 55-14 record.
He would have preferred to have gotten win No. 56 on Nov. 29 in the Division 5 title game at Ford Field, but the Cougars fell just short in a 24-20 loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic. In 2011, Ahern brought a team to the title game that lost to Powers Catholic, 56-26.
But it’s been quite an experience for Ahern, who put a hold on retirement to take the Lansing Catholic job a few years ago.
“We get really strong support from the Lansing Catholic family,” Ahern said. “The kids have been great. When I came back from Florida after my wife died, I had no idea what I was going to do, and I ended up here, and it’s been good.”
He’s got talent like quarterback Tony Poljan returning for next season, but Ahern hesitated to talk about the future.
“That’s the furthest thing from my mind,” he said. “People ask me about next year. This is the game that counted. Last week, it was Almont that counted. The last game that plays, that’s the one that matters. Next year we open with Waverly, that’s the only one that matters.”
Ahern, the former coach at Ithaca, said he talked with Yellowjacket coach Terry Hessbrook after Ithaca’s 22-12 loss to St. Mary Catholic Central that ended Ithaca’s 69-game winning streak. Ahern’s team handed St. Mary its only loss during the regular season, 27-22.
“I felt really bad for him,” Ahern said. “In his situation, I told him the accomplishment he had was just amazing. For a city the size of Ithaca, to do what they’ve done is unbelievable. Their coaching staff has done an outstanding job. It’s hard to lose. They lost in the finals against a really good team. I know [St. Mary] is good, because we played them. You talk about games, and that game was basically a one-play game.”
The same can be said for the loss that Lansing Catholic sustained at the hands Grand Rapids West Catholic. But senior running back Jack Peters was among the Lansing Catholic players appreciative of the coaches for having taken them to Ford Field. “Our coaches put in a lot of time and so much work,” he said. “Our defense is really good because of the coaches and all the research they do. Coach Ahern is the man; I love that man to death. He’s like a second grandfather. He’s the best coach I ever played with. He’s a football genius.”
Ahern was emotional after talking about Ithaca coach Terry Hessbrook and others and hinted that he wasn’t immediately sure how much longer he would keep coaching. “This is twice I’ve been here that I’ve screwed it up,” Ahern said. He acknowledged that the loss to West Catholic was personally disappointing to him. “It bothers me now as much as it did when I first started.”
But going 13-0 and getting to Ford Field before losing to West Catholic was still an experience Ahern won’t soon forget. “This team was really special,” he said. “Like I told everyone, the chemistry they had was so good. I was happy they were able to achieve the success they did. We weren’t even supposed to win our conference. To be able to have the season we had, we were probably overachievers. They were a great group of kids to work with.”