John Papas is a former American football coach. He was the head football coach at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 2003 to 2013. He also was an assistant coach at Harvard University, Bentley University, and Tufts University. He was the first head football coach at Mount Ida College, serving for one season in 1999. He is the founder of the Elite Football Clinics, LLC.
| Playing career | |
|---|---|
| 1974–1977 | Springfield |
| Position(s) | Tight end |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1982 | Brookline HS (MA) (assistant) |
| 1983-1985 | Watertown HS (MA) (assistant) |
| 1986–1991 | Belmont HS (MA) |
| 1992–1995 | Bentley (assistant) |
| 1996 | Bentley (associate HC) |
| 1997 | Harvard (WR) |
| 1998 | Tufts (assistant) |
| 1999 | Mount Ida |
| 2000-2002 | Tufts (special teams) |
| 2003–2013 | Buckingham Browne & Nichols (MA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 100–26–2 (high school) 3–4 (college) |
| Bowls | 3–1 (high school) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 New England Prep, 3 Independent School League (ISL) Titles | |
| Awards | |
| Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, New England Prep School Coaches Hall of Fame | |
| Records | |
| All Time Winningest Coach at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School | |
Early life
editIn his youth, Papas played for the football team, the Red Raiders, at Watertown High School in Watertown, Massachusetts.[1] He played college football at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, lettering for four years as a tight end.[2] He received Eastern College Athletic Conference weekly honors three times his senior year.
Coaching career
editBentley, Harvard and Tufts
editPapas was an assistant coach at Bentley University (1992-1996), Harvard University (1997) and Tufts University (1998, 2000-2002). While at Bentley, Papas was the recruiting coordinator, special teams coordinator and eventually the associate head coach. Those teams had great success, including from 1993 to 1995, when the Falcons won 30 straight, the longest winning streak in the country at that time and the second longest streak by a New England team in the last 100 years. While at Harvard in 1997 as the wide receiver coach, the Crimson won the 1997 Ivy League Title. As the special teams coordinator at Tufts, the Jumbos compiled a 18-14 record, including a 7-1 finish in 1998.
Mount Ida
editPapas was the first head football coach at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts and filled the post for the 1999 season when the team accumulated a record of 3–5.[3][4][5][6][7] After the first year, long-time head football coach Ed Sweeney took over the program.[8] The first game played by the school was a 36–15 victory over Western New England College played on September 11, 1999.[9]
Buckingham Browne & Nichols
editPapas was the head football coach at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N), in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 11 seasons, from 2003 to 2013.[10][11][12] The BB&N Knights compete in the Independent School League (ISL).[13][14][15] Under Papas, the Knights participated in New England prep school bowl games in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010, winning New England prep championships in 2005, 2006 and 2008. In 2008, the Knights went undefeated and were the ISL champions. In 2009 and 2010, the Knights finished 7-1 both years in the ISL and were later named ISL Champions, after Lawrence Academy was stripped of their titles for league sanctions. In February 2010, eight BB&N Knights footballers were signed by college football teams, five with NCAA Division I schools.[11] In the fall of 2010, BB&N had 7 alumni playing Ivy League football, the most of any high school in the country.
Papas retired from coaching in 2014.[16][17]
Honors
editIn 2018, Papas was elected to the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was elected to the New England Football Coaches Hall of Fame and had a bowl game named in his honor
Elite Football Clinics
editPapas is the founder of the Elite Football Clinic, a training camp for high school players. In June 2019, more than 2500 footballers from 43 states attended Elite clinics at Tufts University, Pomona College, and Christopher Columbus High School.[18][failed verification] He occasionally comments on football in the media.[19][20][21]
The LEAGUE
editPapas is the founder and director of The Elite High School Football League, aka The LEAGUE. The LEAGUE was founded in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to grow throughout New England. It is one of the only independent football leagues in the country and allows high school players to play more football outside of their fall seasons, thus affording them more recruiting opportunities.
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Ida Mustangs (NCAA Division III independent) (1999) | |||||||||
| 1999 | Mount Ida | 3–4 | |||||||
| Mount Ida: | 3–4 | ||||||||
| Total: | 3–4 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ 1973 Football Team Watertown High Hall of Fame.
- ^ "Papas promoted at Bentley". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 18, 1996. p. 81. Retrieved August 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ Pave, Marvin (April 11, 1999). "Mount Ida's Master plan: Join NCAA's Division 3". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 72. Retrieved August 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Pave, Marvin (April 11, 1999). "Mount Ida's athletic plan achieved (continued)". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 73. Retrieved August 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Connolly, John (September 17, 1999). "College Football; Only time will measure success". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ DiCesare, Bob (September 12, 1999). "Mount Ida Coach predicts swift gridiron success". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 73. Retrieved August 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ DiCesare, Bob (September 12, 1999). "Campus ready for tailgate parties (continued)". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 74. Retrieved August 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ DeLassus, David. "Mount Ida Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ DeLassus, David. "Coaching Records Game by Game (John Pappas)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ Jack Etter, 83, school athletic director and head coach of 3 sports Boston.com, 27 March 2011.
- ^ a b BB&N celebrates great eight, BostonHerald.com, February 4, 2010.
- ^ New N.F.L. Culture May Filter Down Slowly, The New York Times, December 3, 2009.
- ^ Independent School League football capsules The Boston Globe, September 20, 2007.
- ^ McCaffrey: great catch for BB&N, The Boston Globe, September 22, 2007.
- ^ BB&N brings big-time football to local Pop Warner teams Wicked Local, Roslindale, September 11, 2007.
- ^ Hall, Brendan C. (November 25, 2013). "John Papas to step down from BB&N football". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Emotional finale for Watertown's John Papas in Shriners Classic". The Boston Globe. June 26, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "New England Elite Football Clinic a great success". New England Prep Stars Inc. July 13, 2010. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
- ^ Fisher surfaces as NU assistant, Omaha World-Herald, February 10, 2011.
- ^ Rival coach lauds Fisher, Big Red Today, Nebraska, February 10, 2011.
- ^ Rapoport, Ian R. (December 30, 2009). Barker picks Harvard over Stanford, ESPN.com, Accessed May 12, 2011.
