Coach John Doherty aims to make Eastern a football power again

John Doherty's first football team at Eastern likely will be a lot more successful than his first team at Paul VI.

But the veteran coach would love to replicate his long-term success with the Eagles in his new challenge with the Vikings.

Doherty spent 13 seasons at Paul VI, transforming the Eagles from a soft spot on a lot of schedules to one of South Jersey's premier programs before resigning in December 2015.

After one season as an assistant at Eastern, Doherty has taken charge of the proud program, which has struggled a bit in the win-loss column in recent seasons.

"I told the kids from day one, the biggest thing we can control is being tough and physical," Doherty said during an Eastern practice on Tuesday afternoon. "I think we've made strides in that aspect. The weight room this offseason was big for us.

"The kids really bought in. We had good numbers. They gained some weight, got stronger. You could see it in our scrimmages, see us battling up front and being physical."

Doherty, who teaches middle school in Pennsauken and lives in Voorhees, takes over an Eastern team that was 6-24 over the last three seasons.

But the Vikings' not-so-distant past includes teams with current NFL players Logan Ryan and Eli Apple on the roster as well as redshirt Rutgers quarterback Tom Flacco, who led the squad to the South Jersey Group 5 title game in 2013.

Doherty faced a much larger rebuilding project at Paul VI, where the Eagles were 0-10 in the season before his arrival and 0-10 again in his first season in 2003.

But Doherty's teams went 75-46 over the next 12 seasons, with seven division titles and 10 appearances in the state tournament.

"He's a straightforward guy," Eastern junior running back/linebacker T.J. Franden said of Doherty. "He's going to put forth the effort and he wants us to put forth the effort."

Eastern senior defensive back/wide receiver Zakee Johnson said Doherty has brought a tough-minded mentality to the program.

"He's hard on us but that's good," Johnson said. "He's going to take charge. No nonsense. We need that. He's going to make us better players."

Doherty has made it a priority to connect with the Voorhees Vikings, the youth football program in town.

"We ran a practice over there, bused the team over there," Doherty said. "It was pretty cool, the young kids standing around the field, watching us, getting them involved, like a college situation."

Eastern opens Friday night at home against West Jersey Football Conference National Division foe Clearview.

"We want to try to build things back up," Doherty said. "We want to get the numbers back up, get the culture back up, get back to this team's winning ways."

New coach   School   Old Coach

Rob Bryan Haddon Heights Chris Lina

John Doherty Eastern Dan Boguszewski

Corey Harvey Clayton Marvin Tucker

Mike Healy Pennsville Ryan Wood

A.J. Johnson Bishop Eustace Rob Cormier

Pete Lancetta St. Augustine Mark Reardon

Imion Powell Maple Shade Tony Nicolino

Lamont Robinson Washington Twp. Mark Wechter

Steve Scanlon Clearview Mark Deal

Steve Scuderi Deptford Chris Crowley

(Active coaches with 100 or more wins)

Paul Sacco St. Joseph 305-62-5

Joe Frappolli Florence 297-163-6

Glenn Howard Paulsboro 274-60

Clyde Folsom West Deptford 251-71-5

Tim Gushue Shawnee 238-108-6

Pete Lancetta St. Augustine 215-66-1

Sal Marchese Jr. Delsea 191-66-1

Tom Maderia Burlington Twp. 179-84

Frank Fucetola Williamstown 153-92

Pete Miles Delran 136-124

P.J. Mehigan Cherokee 128-38

Frank DeLano Haddonfield 111-52

Dave Ellen Bridgeton 105-93