1/18/2013 - Jones Steps Down As Wallkill Football Coach
It only took one game for Daryl Jones to realize things were going to be different for Wallkill Valley football.
“Winning that first game on opening day in 2008 against Kittatinny (20-19) was big,” said Jones, who took over a program that had gone 2-18 the two previous seasons and hadn’t won a Sussex County Interscholastic League game since 2006.
“That group really laid the foundation and it’s the team picture I have hanging on my wall,” he added. “No one expected that group to go 5-5 especially in the old SCIL. They had great heart and determination.”
The Rangers certainly did and just missed out on making the state playoffs. But more importantly, Wallkill football became relevant again under Jones as the Rangers would make the states two seasons later.
But after assuming the athletic director duties at Wallkill last summer, Jones knew his time as the Rangers head coach was coming to an end and he made it official last week when he told his team and the district posted the position.
Jones will remain the school’s AD and he said no replacement has been named and the district is accepting applications.
“It was a time issue ultimately,” said Jones, who went 20-29-1 in five seasons and 2-7-1 last fall with the tie coming due to the affects of Hurricane Sandy on Hopatcong which could not host their Week 9 clash with the Rangers.
“It is tough to juggle the responsibilities of being the AD and the head football coach,” said Jones, a 1990 graduate of Wallkill Valley. “I couldn’t do justice to both jobs and combine that with family responsibilities it was too much and I thought it was the time.”
Jones said it was tough telling his players who have bought into his program and were already preparing for next season.
The Rangers started last season on fire with an impressive 40-0 win over Pequannock, but a blowout loss the next week to a very good North Warren team turned the tide. The Rangers suffered several key injuries including a season-ending neck injury to two-way standout Nick James-McLean.
“It wasn’t easy telling the kids because they have worked so hard,” said Jones, who was an assistant at Hopatcong before coming to Wallkill Valley. “But it wouldn’t be fair to them if I couldn’t put the time in. Being a head football coach is a year round job
“We got things moving in the right direction and we got our numbers up,” said Jones. “One of the biggest things is that I developed a great relationship with the youth football programs with camps and clinics. That is something I’m very proud of and the next coach is going to have to carry that on.”
Jones said he is open to all candidates, but when I asked him about the idea of hiring a coach from a small school that has had success, he said it wouldn’t hurt.
“Anyone who has coached at a small school knows what challenges that presents,” he said. “But we just want the right coach for the school and the kids.”
Jones has many fond memories of his tenure, in which he had the opportunity to work with his father, Bob, a Hall of Fame coach from his days at Butler, and his father-in-law Tom Brennan, the former head coach at Newton.
He mentioned wins in 2008 against Kittatinny, Newton (21-20) in overtime against Brennan and Hopatcong (27-26), his old team. A game I covered and featured a last-second TD pass from Matt Briggs to Dan Nann to win it.
But the game that sticks out the most was the Rangers’ heartbreaking defeat to eventual state champ Lakeland in 2010 in the North 1, Group 2 playoffs. The Rangers fell 19-14, a game in which they had a 14-0 lead.
A key fumble by Wallkill and a 99-yard TD pass from Steve Williken to speedster Cody Geyer turned the game around and the Rangers lost by five, the closest game Lakeland would have in the states.
That Wallkill team featured Kevin Cook, Kaje Cowans, Matt McConville, Brian Gallagher, James McLean and the best player Jones ever coached, then sophomore Bobby Russell.
“That 2010 team was a great group of kids,” said Jones. “As bad as the Lakeland loss was it was one of the best games I ever coached in. They were a great team and we had them.”
Jones said he is looking forward to the next chapter of his career as an AD and leading the Wallkill Valley program to bigger and better things, and I think he will.
Jones has the right demeanor to be a leader and it showed with what he did with the football program. And more importantly the relationship he forged with the youth program, something that is so critical in these days of school choice, which is a blog for another time.
H/W/S SEEDING SOON…Both boys and girls basketball teams from the area must submit their records by the end of next week for the seeding of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament.
Pope John won the boys tourney last year and High Point’s girls fell to a very good North Hunterdon team in the final.
The final is set for Feb 22 with a girls-boys doubleheader at Hopatcong.
If I had to seed right now in Sussex my top five boys teams would be Pope John, Sparta, Newton, High Point and Vernon with Pope John and Sparta the only locks to be seeded 1-2.
On the girls, it would be High Point, Pope John, Kittatinny (although they lost to Sparta), Sparta and Newton.
That’s it for now see you on the sidelines.
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