'Luckiest guy in the world': Kelliher ahead of final season coaching Abington football
ABINGTON − Five state championships. Over 300 wins. Nearly 40 years teaching at his alma mater. Now, 50 seasons coaching his high school football team.
Between being a three-sport athlete alongside his childhood best friend Bob Bancroft in high school, winning his 300th game from the couch during the COVID-19 pandemic and being inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005, Jim Kelliher has an unrivaled book of homegrown memories.
Kelliher, 75, will write the final chapter this fall as he embarks on his 50th and final season coaching the Abington High football team. He announced the news on the team's first day of practice Friday.
"To be here at Abington, my hometown, in my final year, I feel good about it. I'm looking forward to the finish. Of course, I'm paying attention to what we've got to do now for our first game," Kelliher said at practice Wednesday, 16 days removed from the home opener against Cohasset. "But (the end) is going to be OK. I'll miss (the players and coaches) because we've all been together for a good long time."
Kelliher is the first and only coach in Massachusetts high school football history to coach the same program for 50 or more years, the Abington High athletic department said in a news release. Kelliher, a 1966 Abington High graduate, took over the program in 1974 and proceeded to win state championships in 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014 and 2019.
"I love Abington High School," Kelliher said. "The programs, the sports − girls, boys. I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have what I've had for this long. I really do. Without a doubt."
Kelliher played tight end and defensive end for the Green Wave in high school, then went to UMass-Amherst for college. Upon returning to his hometown, he taught mathematics and social studies in his 38 years on staff at Abington High.
Now, leading up to his final season (and this isn't exactly new), Kelliher is coaching many of his former players' sons, such as junior quarterback Michael Reilly (son of longtime assistant coach and former quarterback Ed Reilly) and senior running back A.J. Nash (whose father, Adam, played fullback in high school).
More: Ranking the South Shore's top 15 high school football teams heading into 2023
"He means the world to me," Ed Reilly said of Kelliher. "He's been a big part of my life for a long time. You hear the term 'second father', but he's one of my best friends, a mentor and someone I've always looked up to. I think a lot of people feel that way. He's had a great effect on a lot of people. He's a true gentleman, and that's something he always teaches our kids. That's something I'll always treasure."
2022 recap
Deploying one of its youngest rosters in years, the Green Wave finished with its first sub-.500 record season (4-7) this century.
The team scored 10 points or fewer four times all season, but finished with a 30-point showing against Whitman-Hanson on Thanksgiving despite falling short, 35-30, in the season finale.
Names to know
Connor Pease, senior, tight end/defensive end.
AJ Nash, senior, running back.
Mason Nash, sophomore, running back.
More: The 100 (and maybe a few more) South Shore high school football players to watch in 2023
Michael Reilly, junior, quarterback.
Alex Mullen, senior, lineman.
Connor O'Donnell, senior, lineman.
Steve Wojciechowski, senior, lineman.
Will LeBlanc, senior, running back.
Aidan McLellan, senior, linebacker.
They said it
KELLIHER ON WHAT MAKES ABINGTON SPECIAL: "It's really the treatment you get from the upper-echelon people, the athletic director, all of the teachers, all the other people from the superintendent down, and the coaches. I'd like to think we've had something going right for these guys to stay here, because if they're mad at the head coach about something, they wouldn't be here."
ED REILLY ON KELLIHER'S LEGACY: "The championships are all special, but the personal relationship I have with him, that's lifetime. That's going to be, obviously, the thing that matters most to me."
MICHAEL REILLY ON PLAYING FOR KELLIHER: "When I was growing up, I would always go to the games and be a water boy on the sideline. I'd come to practice and dream of playing here one day. Now that I'm playing here, it's wild."
PEASE ON POTENTIAL BOUNCE-BACK SEASON: "I think we'll bounce back really well. Our O-line is, like, freakishly strong this year. Also, we have returning seniors for our running backs and they know the system really well. Me and Mike have been working all summer. We're starting to have a connection. I'm really excited for this season."
Abington High 2023 schedule
Friday, Sept. 8 − vs. Cohasset, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 14 − at Apponequet, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 21 − vs. Silver Lake, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 29 − at Norwell, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 6 − at Sandwich, 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 13 − vs. Rockland, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 20 − at East Bridgewater, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27 − vs. Middleboro, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 23 − at Whitman-Hanson, 10 a.m.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: 'Luckiest guy in the world': Abington's Kelliher to coach final season
