John Quinn

John Quinn, RIP . . .

John Quinn, Archbishop Ryan's first head football coach and the head man at three
other Catholic League schools (also Roman, North Catholic and Conwell-Egan), passed
Sept. 8, 2013. Mr. Quinn led all four schools to playoff berths -- no other coach in
Philadelphia scholastic history has accomplished that feat -- and he steered Ryan to
a CL title in his third stint there, in 1988. Here is the story of that title victory.

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM AS QUINN LEADS SCHOOL TO FIRST CATHOLIC TITLE

By Ted Silary, Daily News Sports Writer

Bells clanged. Glass shattered. Kids raced through the hallways.

And in a freshman English class, a bewildered 13-year-old felt the icy stare of a priest.

It was February 1976 and John Quinn, father of Dan, the aforementioned freshman, had been fired as Archbishop Ryan's football coach, after steering his three most recent teams to records of 9-3, 8-3 and 8-2-1.

"I'll never forget the day it happened," an emotional Dan Quinn said Saturday after watching his father - in his third stint at Ryan - coach the team to a 6-0 win over Archbishop Carroll for the Catholic League championship. "I cried and cried. I mean, I was 13 years old. My dad had just been fired. How else could I react? "

"I was a Ryan football nut. I lived and died with my dad's teams. When we lost, I was probably more upset than the players. "

During the next few days at Ryan, the continuing question would be, how would the players and students react? The answer: bitterly.

John Quinn enjoys the ride after Ryan wins the 1988 CL title.

After all, Quinn, was - and still is - an immensely popular figure, who literally dated back to Ryan's infancy.

He dated back to such an extent, in fact, that it was he who had determined the school's colors.

"I remember that, too. I was real young," Dan said. "We had a black, red and white rug in our living room. Dad looked at the floor and said, 'That doesn't look too bad. ' "

But getting back to the negative reaction . . .

"For about two days, the school was going crazy," said Dan, who would become a contributing varsity basketball player. "Kids were smashing glass, playing with the fire extinguishers. The fire alarm was constantly being set off. Kids would just leave their seats and walk outside the school. I remember being in an English I class, and the priest looking at me like everything was my fault. "

Late Saturday afternoon, as Dan Quinn did the looking all around Villanova Stadium, every single sight he saw was beautiful.

His father's eyes springing a leak after Ryan - on 24- and 42-yard first- half field goals by Matt Knowles - had won its first football championship in 21 seasons of Catholic League membership. His father being carted off the field by delirious players. His father being engulfed by media members, most of whom were not ashamed to feel pleased that a title had finally come John Quinn's way.

"I'm so happy for him," said Dan, who cried himself. "He deserves it.

"Except for when he got married (to Teresa) and had the kids (Dan is 25, brother Bill is 29), there's no question in my mind - he's never been happier. I remember the day we beat Egan, 31-6, at Temple Stadium in 1973 (for the North title). He was crying then. It's so good to see him with happy tears again. "

As John Quinn can attest, the third time is the charm.

Quinn coached Ryan from 1968 through '75 (though there was a patchwork varsity with no seniors in '67). He remained a teacher at the school and applied for the job after the '80 season to a new principal. Quinn was hired and his second stint lasted from '81 through '84.

When asked in '84 why he was quitting as head man, Quinn, who assisted successor Steff Kruck part-time for the next three seasons, said simply, "I always said I would give it up when I'm 50. And I'm 50. "

Last May, Kruck resigned to become an assistant at West Chester University. None of his aides, most of whom had been part of Quinn Regime II, could create enough free time in his schedule to take the job.

"Dad kept saying, 'They need a coach. They might ask me to do it again,' " Dan said. "He'd say, 'I'm not sure what people would say or think. ' I told him, 'Don't worry about that. You're in good condition physically. Obviously, you feel you can handle it mentally. If you want to coach football again, go coach football again. ' "

Quinn took the job, then said, "This is going to ruin season-ticket sales. People are going to say, 'Not him again. ' "

"He's always kidding around. He's always a jokester," said standout center-defensive end Steve McEachern, whose five older brothers also played football for Ryan. "I see him five, six times a day. I stop by the gym, just to talk. He makes me laugh. He's a great guy. There's not one person around who doesn't like him.

"We dedicated this game to him, gave him the game ball. As soon as we entered the playoffs, that was our thought: 'Let's win for Mr. Quinn. ' I ran right over to him after the game. I wanted to be with him then. I knew how much he wanted it. He was as nervous as we were, if not more. "

That anxiety became heightened in the final minutes as Carroll, which had done nothing offensively, mounted another in its series of frenzied, late-game playoff drives.

Quarterback Rocco Vernisi's throwing and running helped the Patriots move from their 8 to Ryan's 27 before four downs yielded three incompletions sandwiched around a 1-yard loss on a QB draw.

Said John Quinn: "I'm thinking one second, 'What am I going to say if they score a touchdown and kick the extra point? ' Then it was, 'What was I going to do if we got the ball back and we had to run out the clock?' . . . The emotions go from one extreme to the other. "

Soon, Quinn would go on a ride.

"When the kids carried him on their shoulders toward the fans, it was a culmination," said assistant Rick Eife, who graduated in 1971 and started at defensive tackle. "All the assistants except for Frank McFillin (a Father Judge grad) played for John. That really lumped us up.

"John's a graduate of Notre Dame, but the man puts on no airs. He's a gym teacher at Ryan, the football coach. He doesn't try to make pretend he's something else. He's got nothing but the kids' interest at heart. It gave me a good, warm feeling to see them respond to him that way. "

Approximately 25 minutes after the game, when no one remained in the stadium except for Quinn, several reporters and some well-wishing stragglers, it was mentioned that the players, en masse, had noted how they had wanted to win for their coach.

Said John, brightly: "I'm glad I won it for them . . . if I helped. "

TITLE TIDBITS

Ryan's Frank Wycheck (24 carries, 177 yards) came within 11 yards of the title-game rushing record (188 by Carroll's Dan Dinsmore in 1982) . . . Matt Knowles's 42-yard field goal is the longest . . . Wycheck in the last two seasons rushed 403 times for 1,825 yards and 19 TDs. He also caught 61 passes for 812 yards and six TDs. Teammate Bill Sachs completed 212 of 405 passes for 2,799 yards and 17 scores . . . This was the first touchdown-less title game . . . Starring for Ryan's defense were the four linebackers (Jeff Burke, Pete Rendina, Dan Ledva, Tim Wade), end Steve McEachern and tackle Joe Fox . . . Carroll's defense was headed by linebacker Joe Bergstrom, tackle Devin Brown and end Dan Graham . . . John Quinn, on whether he might step down again: "Give me a month."