Father Judge will have a new football coach next year.
According to a post on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Athletics website, the school is in search of a football coach.
The coach will replace Mike McKay, a Judge grad who has been the coach of the team since 2013.
McKay was dismissed as coach this week, according to Catholic League sources. During his time at the school, he posted a 31-38 overall record, according to numbers on tedsilary.com
The record might be seven games under .500, but that is misleading. Every year, the Crusaders’ schedule included tilts with St. Joe’s Prep, La Salle and Archbishop Wood, three schools that are always in the hunt for a state championship.
“We appreciate everything he has done for the school we are very grateful for his dedication, we just decided to go in another direction,” Father Judge athletic director Jake Serfass said. “He’s a great Judge guy, he’s an alum and he has the respect of everyone here. It’s a tough decision but we decided to go in another direction.”
McKay, a former quarterback, had a great relationship with his players, according to this year’s starting quarterback.
“I work with him a lot because he’s the head coach, the offensive coordinator and the quarterbacks coach, so at practice, I’m almost always with him,” Shane Dooley said of McKay in an interview conducted in August. “I love playing for him because, I don’t want to say he lets me do whatever I want, because he doesn’t, but he lets me do a lot. He lets me change the play if I see something, he lets me play to my strengths. He lets me do what I want as long as I’m doing what we need to do to win, and that’s what I try to do.”
Judge finished 3-8 last year. The Crusaders ended the season with a 40-6 triumph over Lincoln on Thanksgiving. They also notched victories over Ridley, a District One playoff qualifier, and PCL Red Division rival Roman Catholic.
