Jesuit’s new coach, Songy, taught by two masters

Mark Songy was more than anxious to heed the call from Jesuit to return as its head football coach.

He admits he shouldn’t have left the school after five successful seasons to return to his alma mater, Brother Martin, in 1997.

Last week he was called back to serve as Jesuit’s head football coach when Wayde Keiser suddenly retired to spend more time with his family.

As an offensive lineman at Brother Martin, Songy was a student under the legendary hall of fame coach, Bob Conlin. When he was ready to spread his wings as a full-time assistant coach, it was Archbishop Shaw’s Hank Tierney who applied the finishing touches.

He has fond memories of the two:

➤ On Conlin, whom Songy left Jesuit to replace following the coach’s death in 1997:

“I think about him every day. Bob was such an influence on my life at a time I really needed it, especially from a man of his stature.

“Playing for him, games were much easier for us than practice. Practice was a violent 2 to 2 1/2-hour deal. We ran the wishbone, and it was a straight ahead, hit-you-in-the-mouth offense, and we did it on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of every week. We never threw the ball.

“Two things that stick out about him are, 1. I never heard him say a thing that didn’t make sense, and 2. You always knew where you stood with him. He would talk to us every day.

“He was a great man to be around; a great mentor. He coached from afar. He hired coaches to do a job, and let them do it. And he apparently saw something in me.”

One thing Conlin saw when Songy was a student assistant, coaching the junior high team, was a go-fer.

“I stood on the sidelines next to coaches Randy Johnson and Al Pontiff. They’d call a play and I’d write it down.

“Well, we’re playing Rummel for the district championship, and it had rained torrentially for days before that, and the old field at Tad Gormley was a quagmire.

“Conlin called my name – and for him to call your name was for something really good or really bad. So I ran over to him and he said, ‘Get in the squad car with (New Orleans police Capt. Ernest Demma, the team escort), go back to school and get as many rain balls as you can find.’

“Ernie and I drove back to school with siren going, but I had no idea what a rain ball was. There are no balls marked, Rain Ball. So I opened a cabinet and found seven or eight of the nastiest looking balls that were in there, and ran back onto the field with my arms full of these balls.

“He took one look at me, and slapped the balls out of my arms. They scattered all over the field. He yelled, ‘I don’t want this. I want rain balls!’

“I’m dejected because I let him down. I gathered up the balls and raced back to school with Ernie. I found seven to eight pristine footballs and took them to him. The score was still 0-0.

“Bob looked at me, then looked the other way. The managers took the balls and put them into play.

“We won the game. I don’t remember the score, but it was close and a great game.

“When we got back to school. Conlin was outside his office. I’m trying to avoid him at all cost, but he called me over and said, smiling, ‘Hey, boy, do you know what a rain ball is now?’”

➤ On Tierney, who led Shaw to its only football title to date:

“Hank gave me my start out of college after Al Pontiff recommended me to him. I learned a lot about game preparation and about not wasting time in practice.

“We were the first school to film practice. We’d watch every snap, correct our mistakes and show the film to the kids every day. There’s no doubt in my mind that I became a coach because of Hank.

“When you look at the many coaches under him who became head coaches, there’s no question he’s a great teacher.”

One is Archbishop Rummel head coach Jay Roth.

“Jay’s the best running back coach I’ve ever been around, if you were to break down coaching positions. He takes a great deal of pride in coaching technique, effort and character. He got that from his dad (retired coach Easten Roth).”

The training Songy received makes his return to the coaching ranks following a decade of pharmaceutical sales a smooth transition.

“I didn’t see this coming (Keiser’s retirement). Wayde ran a top-notch program,” Songy said.

“His schemes – both offensively and defensively – are perfect, and they have a good staff here. And I don’t think there should be any changes in that. I’m sure this is part of the reason I was brought in – to maintain the continuity of Wayde’s success.”

Songy followed Danny Abramowicz in his first Jesuit stint after serving as an assistant under two coaches. From 1992-96 his teams posted a 35-27 record, with four teams making the state playoffs.

There was little pressure to win under then-athletic director, Frank Misuraca, whose philosophy was to do what is in the best interest of the players. Songy’s mistake was leaving for what he thought was a greener pasture.

“Leaving to coach in the shadow of Bob Conlin was a no-win situation,” he said. “Most people get one shot at a job like this. I got two. How fortunate is that?”

Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].