Whitey Sullivan is
enjoying life after coaching

By Melissa Yerkov
Times Sports Editor

So what do people do once they’ve pretty much accomplished their hopes and dreams?
According to John "Whitey" Sullivan, they sit back, relax and enjoy the moment.
Life is good for the Philadelphia Catholic League’s winningest football coach, who spends his summers in Ocean City, N.J., golfing and sunbathing on the beach.
And he’s certainly earned it.
For more than three decades at Father Judge High School, Sullivan sweated it out on the Crusaders’ sideline, compiling a 196-95-10 record along the way. He led Father Judge to four Catholic League championships — in 1975, ’81, ’83 and ’84 — before retiring as head coach in 2001.
"I miss the kids and the coaches and the X’s and the O’s," Sullivan said during a phone interview last week from his beach house in Ocean City. "It was nice. Now I’m down the shore enjoying the summer and playing golf. Life is good."
Sullivan may have turned in his playbook and whistle, but he’s still making a difference at the Solly Avenue school. For 44 years, he has been expanding the minds of his students as a biology and physical science teacher.
"It was weird. The more I got into coaching, the better teacher I became," said Sullivan. "And the more I taught, the better coach I was."
After graduating from Father Judge High School in 1961 — he played football for the Crusaders — Sullivan earned a psychology degree at Villanova University four years later. He also completed science and graduate programs at Holy Family College, Temple and Penn State University.
But it didn’t take long for Sullivan to return to his alma mater.
"That was absolutely neat," said Sullivan, describing teaching at his former school. "I already knew the building and the kids and the neighborhood. It was fun at Judge. The kids are great. Why would I want to leave there?"
In 1965, he seized the chance to be an assistant coach for the Crusaders’ football team. In 1974, he moved up to head coach.
It didn’t take him long to switch things up a bit.
"We tried not to cut. We’ll keep as many kids as we can," he said. "We’d keep one-hundred kids on varsity, and no one else did that. When you keep one-hundred kids, that’s a lot of kids playing, which really helped us."
It also provided a wealth of unforgettable stories.
"We had a kid play with one leg," recalled Sullivan. "I remember this one time, a kid hit him from the side and his leather leg fell off. I think the ref had a heart attack. And there were hundreds of these stories. I had the pleasure of being surrounded by good kids who wanted to play. I had guys who wanted to work. We had a great bunch of kids. We played with our hearts."
Take, for instance, Mike McCloskey, a tight end who played four seasons with the Crusaders and graduated in 1979. He went on to attend Penn State University and helped the Nittany Lions claim the national championship in 1983, the first in the school’s history.
That same year, McCloskey was a fourth-round draft pick and signed with the Houston Oilers, playing with the NFL team for three years. He also played for a season with the Philadelphia Eagles, then retired in 1987.
"I think it was terrific in that I had the good fortune to play for some very good coaches," said McCloskey. "At Judge, Whitey Sullivan was clearly one of most successful coaches in Catholic League history. He’s a great guy who taught me very well."
Sullivan doesn’t measure his success in football championships. In fact, he’ll tell you he valued the academic accomplishments of his players far more than their physical talent.
"I think the thing I’m proudest of is getting so many kids into colleges and helping them get degrees," said Sullivan. "It was the kids who didn’t have the talent or size who went on to earn a degree from college — those are the kids I’m so proud of. Some of these kids were in the lower track in high school and now they have masters’ degrees."
The former coach often finds himself bumping into players from the past . . . sometimes quite literally. After all, when you’ve coached well over 1,000 kids, it’s bound to happen.
"It’s nice to see so many guys out there," Sullivan said. "I just ran into one of my old players in Ocean City, so I was talking with him and his family. So many of them are doing so well. They’re good men and fathers and husbands.
"It was good to see kids come and go," he continued. "Judge has great contacts and great loyalty."
Even though Sullivan isn’t calling the shots on the football field anymore, he’s not afraid to rely on his old-time buddies for some assistance in the classroom.
"If kids gets standoffish, I have a built-in security system," Sullivan explained. "I’ll say ‘I coached your father’ and get out my cell phone and call his dad right there.
"I’m just waiting for the day the kids come in and I can say, ‘I coached your grandfather,’" he added with a laugh. "Then I’ll be filling out my papers."
Sullivan, now 65, says he isn’t looking to retire from teaching anytime soon. Living in the Northeast during the school year and spending summers in Ocean City seems to be working out just fine.
"It’s comfortable for me. I put seven kids through college, so it’s my turn," said Sullivan, whose children range in age from 19 to 38. "I’m trying to give back. I love teaching science, and coaching was a great experience. Judge has some great people to be around. Life is good." ••