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By Scott HuffThe long and winding road brought a pair of current New York Jet coaches back to War Memorial Field in Doylestown on a cool and cloudy Sunday.
Both Jet defensive back coach Jim O’Neil and Jet defensive coordinator Michael Pettine Jr. were back inside the stadium to give back to the community in the 1st Annual Jim O’Neil Football Camp.
The free camp was held for 150 campers between grades five and eight from Bucks County and was staffed by Jet coaches as well as coaches and players from both Central Bucks West and Central Bucks East.
“I have been thinking about doing this for some time,” said O’Neil who began coaching with the Jets in 2009. “It was just time to give back to a community that provided me with such a great experience, and exposed me to some great coaching at the high school level with Coach Pettine (Sr.). The stadium itself brings back memories, but we didn’t get to play on this turf. I remember a lot of games that were played in the mud.”
“It is very important to remember your roots in this game,” said Pettine Jr. “And in a camp like this, a kid might have an instant of success on the field and will get hooked on the game. “A lot of how your life is shaped is about opportunity. And to give these kids this type of opportunity to do something positive – get off the couch from in front of those video games – and get into a sport.”
The road back to Doylestown began for O’Neil after his enormously successful playing career with CB West where his Buck teams – under the head coaching of the senior Pettine – were an astounding 31-4. He played three seasons at Towson State University and had coaching stints at Albany, Pennsylvania, Northwestern, Towson, and Eastern Michigan.
“I really didn’t have aspirations of coaching in the NFL,” said O’Neil. “But Coach Pettine got me in contact with Mike when he was with the (NFL Baltimore) Ravens, and that was how I got involved in the pro game. What a difference – it is like getting your PhD in football – the game goes on in your head 24/7.”
“Getting connected with Jim was the best thing that I have done in pro football,” said Mike Pettine Jr., who never played with or coached O’Neil at CB West. “He has very broad shoulders and can take criticism – and I knew that because he played for my father and Mike Carey. He is intelligent and very passionate about the game of football.“When (New York Jet head coach) Rex Ryan got the head coaching job, I knew that I was going with him as defensive coordinator,” added Pettine who was the head coach at both William Tennent and North Penn before his job with the Baltimore Ravens. “And that meant that I needed someone to take over the job that I had been doing. It had to be someone that I was able to work with and Jim was an easy choice for that job.”
“I was hired the night before the press conference,” remembered O’Neil. “Mike is the best – I have learned so much from him.
“I have to sit next to him in the box during the games and try to calm him down,” added O’Neil. “He gets himself into the game and can get really worked up.”
Both Pettine and O’Neil are hopeful that the current NFL lockout will come to an end before the season begins.
“The frustrating part is that we can’t work with the players,” said O’Neil. “We have used the time to scout ourselves and our tendencies. We still put in a full day’s work, but we would much rather be working with the players.”
“A lot of our job is building relationships with players – and we aren’t able to do that now,” said Pettine Jr. “Everyone has to realize what can be lost if we don’t play football. The fans have to be considered – and nobody should lose sight of that.”
Both O’Neil and Pettine were racing around inside War Memorial Field as youth – just like the 150 campers in the 1st Annual Jim O’Neil football camp.
“We were talking about that,” said O’Neil. “Any one of those kids could have been us.”Central Bucks East head coach John Donnelly was running one of the drills at the camp where campers took quarterback drop backs and threw passes to fellow campers.
“This event is really great for the community,” said Donnelly who became part of the Central Bucks coaching family after a stint at Quakertown. “To have a great product of Central Bucks football like Jim O’Neil to come back is exciting. We want kids to stay a part of the Central Bucks football programs, and this is a good way to get their attention.”
Central Bucks West head coach Brian Hensel was on the move checking out that everything in the camp was running smoothly.“I actually taught Jim when he was a student at Unami Middle School in the 90’s,” said Hensel. “When he called and wanted to get this off the ground, we were excited to jump in and help him with resources. We wanted to keep it simple the first year – it has been a great day.”
A great day for O’Neil, Pettine Jr., Donnelly, Hensel – and the most importantly - the 150 campers.
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