'Real enjoyable ride': After 53 years, Stanton football coach Mike Healey retires
Stanton head football coach Mike Healey, the most experienced coach on Northeast Florida's high school gridiron, is retiring after more than a half century on the sidelines.
Healey's retirement will take effect Jan. 8. The 48-season span between his first (1976) and last (2023) head coaching seasons is the longest on record for Jacksonville football.
"It's been a real enjoyable ride, it really has," Healey said in a remote interview with the Times-Union. "But it's time to turn it over to some youngsters and let them feel their way through the coaching world."
Stanton compiled an 18-66 record in nine seasons under Healey, including a 2-7 mark this year, as the traditional gridiron challenge continued for the academic magnet. Inheriting a program on a 21-game losing skid, Healey led the Blue Devils to their strongest season for nearly a half-century with a 6-4 mark in 2017, the school's first winning record since resuming football in 1998.
Healey, who began his journey as a Bishop Kenny assistant in 1971, recorded 104 victories during his coaching career, portions of it spent outside the Sunshine State.
Taking over the Crusaders' program in 1976, he led the team to its first-ever Florida High School Athletic Association playoff berths in both 1976 and 1977, the school's only trips to the postseason before 1999. Until October 2022, Healey was the most recent Bishop Kenny coach to defeat traditional rival Bolles head-to-head.
Healey also won NCAA Division I-AA national championships in 1985, 1986 and 1989 at Georgia Southern, where he served under Erk Russell as linebackers coach and later defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
"He was such a great football mind, and so good with the kids, getting them to play probably better than they should've been able to," Healey said.
Healey cited Russell and former Florida head coach Ray Graves ("just a terrific coach, personable, caring for his players") as his main coaching influences, and he crossed paths with other major names in his career.
A Bishop Kenny graduate, he walked on at Florida during Steve Spurrier's Heisman Trophy heroics in the 1960s. He converted from the offensive backfield to the defense, for a time lining up ahead of future Pro Football Hall of Fame end Jack Youngblood on the Gator depth chart. At Lake Region in 1996, the school hired him to replace former UF coach Charley Pell.
Stanton is among three football coaching openings, along with Jackson and Sandalwood, in the 17-team Gateway Conference this year. Among Duval County public schools, only Steve Brown (Paxon) and Marty Lee (First Coast) have a longer tenure at their current schools. The school district intends to collect applications for the position through Jan. 7.
A history buff, Healey said he and his wife intend to begin his retirement with a trip to Europe next year.
"It's been wonderful to be able to work with young men and teach them how to play this game, and help them through difficult times," he said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Mike Healey: Stanton football coach retires after long Florida career
