Leaves legacy as first coach to lead Blue Devils to HCIAA titleMike Delaney called it one of the toughest decisions he ever made in his life. But since the St. Dominic Academy basketball coach moved with his family to Hardyston Township in Sussex County, some 70 miles from his Jersey City roots, it was going to be difficult to commute every day for practices and games with the Blue Devils.
“I did it last year and it was really tough,” said Delaney, who resigned as the head coach at SDA last week after six years. “When I was living in Jersey City, it was fine, but once we moved, it was tough financially and tough in terms of time.”
When Delaney recently started a new job, traveling the state doing insurance claims, it sealed the deal that he was not going to be able to return.
“It was a good opportunity for me, but I’m out on the road all day long,” Delaney said. “Feasibly, economically, I just couldn’t do it. It hurts a lot, because we were already making plans on what we were going to do this year. The [Jersey City Recreation] summer league already started, so we were getting ready. We were going to start four sophomores and give it our all. They have a chance to be something.”
But Delaney handed his resignation letter to athletic director John Nagel last week, in a move that Delaney regretting being forced to make.
“I had it easy there,” Delaney said. “I had kids who wanted to become better players, who were truly committed to the program and worked hard on the court and in the classroom. They all went to good schools. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”
Delaney took the position six years ago and enjoyed a successful run, leading the Blue Devils to their first-ever HCIAA Coviello Division title in 2000. The Blue Devils won 23 games a year later and made it as high as No. 7 in the state rankings. During his tenure, the Blue Devils were 101-51, but more impressively, they were 64-13 inside the confines of the HCIAA.
“I will always have a lot of good memories from my time there,” said Delaney, who was a grade school and AAU coach before getting the position at SDA six years ago. “I loved it. I stepped in with some good kids and just kept pushing all the right buttons. We always had a great group of hard-working kids.”
Delaney said that his finest memory will be the 2000 HCIAA title game, when the underdog Blue Devils steamrolled heavily favored Bayonne, 64-31, to win the school’s first-ever basketball championship.
“I just remember saying that day that I knew how Ron Turcotte felt when he rode Secretariat,” Delaney said. “We were up by 27 points and I knew that they weren’t going to be able to catch us. It was the culmination of two years of hard work and a testament to the kids. I was pretty blessed to have a group of great kids.”
Delaney said that he always had a sense of confidence while coaching the Blue Devils.
“I never went into a game thinking that we could lose,” Delaney said. “We had a good run, some great battles with Bayonne, Holy Family and Marist.”
Delaney credited the work of his assistant coaches, namely Chris Ambrose, Vic DeCandia and John Seborowski.
“We worked together so well,” Delaney said. “I’m going to miss those guys.”
But first and foremost, Delaney said that he will miss the players.
“I loved coming to practice and I loved the games,” Delaney said. “I’m really going to miss the kids. I love the game of basketball. If I find it that I miss it so much, I’ll get back into coaching, either Recreation ball or Biddy ball or something. I miss it already.”
Delaney said that he will always thank the administration at SDA for giving him the opportunity to coach.
“I’m forever grateful, because they were all willing to take a chance on a guy like me,” Delaney said. “We had a great run. I was pretty blessed.”
SDA officials have already begun the search for Delaney’s replacement. All interested applicants should contact the school. – Jim Hague
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