Aquinas football head coach James Leonard had extra reasons to celebrate Thursday night as he picked up his 100th career victory in the form of a 34-0 blowout of Richmond Academy.
“One hundred wins, means we’ve had some really good players and some really good coaches around here the last 12 years,” said Leonard. “I’ve been really lucky to have a great coaching staff every year.”
This century mark milestone came in only his 12th season at the helm of the Fightin’ Irish program, meaning he’s averaging at least eight wins per season, which is something no other football coach at Aquinas has been able to accomplish.
Coach Leonard’s first season at Aquinas came in 2013, and he did something unprecedented then as well, going 14-0 en route to a Class A state championship with a win over Calvary Day. That team, Leonard says, will always be special to him.
“Every group is different, and I wouldn’t say I have a favorite, but that first team was special, because I was so young and they supported me when I took over, and we went and won a state championship,” Leonard said. “You know, every group has been special, though. I really like this group we have right now and this senior class.”
Anyone who knows how a football program works realizes it’s not just about the head coach. Of course he plays a big part, but everyone around him has to be on the same page too.
From the coordinators to the assistants to the players, everyone has to do their job.
“I tell people all the time, I believe this is the sport you can’t coach by yourself,” he said. I have a great offensive coordinator, a great defensive coordinator, a great special teams coordinator, and all of our position coaches, and there’s never been a year where I’ve had to call both sides of the ball. I just kind of set the schedule and let my coaches coach, and they do a phenomenal job every year.”
There are even more people working behind the scenes that don’t get the shine but deserve some.
“Every year we have five or six student managers, all girls. Everyone thinks they are just water girls, but no one has any idea how much work they put in to help with our program, so we can practice the way we want to practice.”
There has been an enormous amount of success so far in Coach Leonard’s career at Aquinas, but Leonard and his staff hope there’s more to come this season.
Aquinas (4-4, 3-3) currently sits in fifth place in the region standings and will try to finish this 2024 campaign strong with its final two regular season games against Howard (4-4, 3-3) and Cross Creek (1-7, 0-6).
