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CRIMSON SHIELD THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL |
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| September 2010 | ||
Meet the Football Coach
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Coach Mark Bonis has appreciated tradition from an early age. He recalls being impressed by the Hall of Champions at the Jesuit Open House. He started at TE three years for the Blue Jays. The only other member of his class to do so was fellow O-lineman Ryan Zeringue, now his assistant on the Crusader staff. Jesuit reached the state semifinals in both their sophomore and senior years.
Mark set his sights on coaching football even before he graduated from high school. He walked on at Southern Mississippi, where he played mainly on special teams until suffering an injury his junior year. He finished his career as a student assistant on Jeff Bower's staff. Following graduation, he coached at Sam Houston State for two years. He resigned to return to Hattiesburg as TE coach only to find his plans thwarted when the son of the new O coordinator took the position. Taking the setback as a sign that his destiny lay in high school, Mark served as offensive co-coordinator at Archbishop Shaw for three years. (Two of the players there, Stefon Gray and Ramaad Robinson, are CECP coaches on his current staff.) |
When Jay Pittman ('81) became head coach at Brother Martin for the 2006 season, he hired Mark as offensive coordinator. The '08 squad produced the first undefeated regular season in Crusader history dating back to St. Aloysius in 1921. When Jay retired after the '08 season, Mark took the helm.
As a player, Mark recalls Bob Conlin's Sader squads as big, strong, and tough. They played for 48 minutes as a team that fought back from setbacks. "They would always hit you in the mouth. The next morning you were sore and black and blue." Bonis's coach at Jesuit, Mark Songy ('82), who played for Conlin and would succeed him at Martin, instilled the same traits in his teams. Bonis wants to reestablish that identity in today's gridders. After the '09 season, Mark reflected on the last four years and decided there was no common identity from season to season. As a result, he has stressed the hard-nosed Crusader tradition since spring practice. He commissioned a brief history of BM football that will be distributed to the players the week of the first game. "I think we have great school pride, but we can take it to the next level." He doesn't want students playing football just to be playing football. He wants them to focus on continuing the tradition they have inherited. To this end, he now has Jeff Lupo ('92) coaching the younger players along with volunteer coach Tommy Clapp ('83). |
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The staff has tweaked the defense for the coming season. Opponents will still face a 4-3 but with two high safeties instead of just one. The recent scrimmage against West Jefferson provided the Saders with experience in the new alignment. A concerted off-season effort has produced a bigger, stronger squad. One encouraging note is that all seven D linemen who rotated last year return.
A demanding non-district schedule will prepare the Saders for Catholic League play. Mark says "St. Aug. will have 15 Division I athletes when all is said and done. They should be picked first. But I actually think the favorite of the district is Shaw." The Eagles have a "humongous" offensive line, their top running back returning, and an athletic quarterback. They run an odd stack on defense that is different from what opponents face the rest of the season. Let the games begin! |