"As the year went on, I gave it more and more thought. I knew we'd have a very young team. I decided it wasn't a good time to leave. I wanted to be here with them."
Though the passion hasn't changed, the body is now less cooperative.
Jim Algeo, 75, LC's head coach for 44 years and an assistant for 9 years at three schools beforehand, has announced his retirement, effective at the end of this season. He told his assistants Monday night, informed principal Tim Quinn, one of his former players, on Tuesday and heads-upped his players after yesterday's workout.
At Tuesday's practice, Algeo said, "I just feel tired. Your perspective of yourself is different than the kids' perspective. I still feel like I could get down in a stance and knock everybody off the ball. But . . . "
While Algeo does not move quickly anymore, his voice retains its boomer quality and his mind puts tacks to shame.
At that practice, he looked at the defensive players and rattled off classes for every one. Later, in a discussion of LC's drawing area, he mentioned that some kids reside in Quakertown, then proceeded to pinpoint which ones. Also, he knew the names, positions and destinations for all of Archbishop Wood's Division 1 commits and had no problem providing names/schools for the LC guys now playing college football.
"I'll be able to go watch their games next year. That'll keep me busy, right?" he said, smiling. "And my grandson [Sean Algeo] plays soccer in high school. He's a junior and I've never seen one of his games. Now, I'll get to see those, too."
Algeo and his wife, Mickey, celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary Monday. They have nine children, ranging in age from 51 to 33 (son Danny is Cardinal O'Hara's head coach), and 18 grandchildren. Two of his assistants are named Mike deMarteleire; they're a son-in-law and grandson.
