On Monday morning, all the hope and hype came to fruition when head coach Jody Russell walked onto the field at Robert W. Gore Stadium, blew his whistle, and Newark Charter School’s first ever official tackle football practice began.
Russell is no stranger to opening a season as a head coach. He served in that position for 15 years at the Tatnall School and five at his alma mater, Newark High. But he admitted this one, his 21st, had a different feel to it.
“One hundred percent, it felt different,” he said, smiling ear to ear. “It’s been awesome. We had the morning session, it was great. We had 68 kids this morning and there’s still a bunch of kids with physical issues so we could have close to 80, eventually. They’re out here working hard. They’re learning. We had really good summer workouts and played in the 7-on-7 league, which translates to them having a little better idea of what’s going on than they did when we had them out here in February.”
Since February, Russell has put together a coaching staff that is a “who’s who” among Delaware high school coaches. Among them are longtime Newark High assistant coaches Mike Brogan and Steve Grundy, who Russell played for and coached with early in his career.
“Between Brogan and Grundy, there is like 75 years of football experience,” Russell emphasized. “But those guys, having coached me, just having those guys around is awesome. The fact they are both retired gives me two guys who can be here anytime I need them to be. It’s been amazing. I played for those guys, I coached with them, and you become friends with your mentors. It’s just been great having those guys out here.”
Other coaches include Mike Ryan, who was a head coach for years at McKean and Delaware Military Academy, along with veteran assistants Matt Barlow, Tom Burton, Mike McCann, Kevin Scannell, David Tinsley, Travis Perez and Cameron White.
Unlike their coaches, none of the players have experience playing tackle football at the high school level. However, some have played in youth leagues and one of them, senior Logan Matthews, brings to the team varsity experience in another brand of football and is looking forward to the transition to tackle.
“I am playing for new opportunities,” explained Matthews, who last fall was a member of Newark Charter’s state championship Unified flag football team. “And mainly also leading the younger kids and setting an example for them.”
The first three days of preseason are mandatory non-contact days. So there were no scratches yet on the all-white helmets. In fact, the official new decal has not yet been placed on them nor has it even been shown to the players, and it won’t be until they are getting dressed for their first game. There were brand new blocking pads and sleds strewn around the field and shoulder pads on racks waiting to be used once contact begins.
Everything to do with tackle football is new on the campus and at the stadium complex. But for longtime athletic director Greg Shivery, it’s more exciting than stressful.
“I’ll be honest, since I’ve been the athletic director here, I’ve added eight or nine new sports and except for purchasing the large amount of equipment I have had to for football, this is pretty similar,” said Shivery, who played high school football at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown. “We are fortunate to have Jody come in here, who knows football in and out, so, believe it or not, I’m not that stressed. He knows what he’s doing, he’s letting me know what I need to do, and that makes life easy.”
Newark Charter is playing a junior varsity schedule this season with plans to play a varsity one next year in the Class 1A division. However, the team’s two scrimmages are against the varsity squads from A.I. du Pont on Aug. 17 and Christiana on the 28th. Those two programs have not fielded JV teams in recent years and combined didn’t have as many players at preseason practices as Newark Charter.
“I like the challenges,” Russell explained of the decision to scrimmage at the varsity level. “It should give us a good barometer of what the JV season should look like.”
All the hard work put forth during the preseason is just the prelude to what will be the first official tackle football game in school history on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. at Robert W. Gore Stadium.
“Everybody is so excited to have it,” Russell said. “I’m still not sure they understand exactly what it’s going to look like when they come out here on the third when the first game is. Wilmington Charter is going to send like 25 kids down here and we’re going to have 75 kids on our sideline, lights, and 2,000 people at a JV game with all these bells and whistles surrounding it. It’s super exciting to see the growth of the kids and the excitement around the program and how everybody is behind us.”
Shivery was quick to agree that he’s confident the school’s newest sport will be successful from top to bottom.
“I think it’s going to be great for the community,” Shivery predicted about not just the opener, but the program as a whole. “I think our kids are going to love it. I know our families are excited about it. This program came about because of the push by our community, and I think it’s going to be a really good thing.”
New coaches at Newark High
Former Newark High student-athlete Lexie Zuber (Class of 2017) is the new field hockey head coach.
“I am excited for a new challenge and to give our student-athletes a great season,” said Zuber, who will be assisted by newcomer Taylor Holt.
Current winter cheerleading coach Abbie Johnson has taken over the same position for the Yellowjackets’ fall cheer program.
In my opinion only …
The NCAA finally punished Jim Harbaugh for impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. So now he can’t coach in the NCAA until August 2028 and instead will have to remain in his NFL job that pays him millions. That’ll teach him. And it only took four years to come to the decision. Well done, NCAA. NOT!
Wrapping it up
Glasgow High soccer coach Brian Grant began his 28th season by welcoming 18 players to the opening day of camp, which he said, “is the largest in a long time and hopefully a sign of things to come.”
Until next time … have a great sports week!
Have a sports tidbit to share? Email JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow on “X” @JonBuzby.
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