Varsity football head coach Donald Herman will lead his final season this fall, but before that he has an award to pick up.
Coach Herman was named to the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association hall of fame earlier this month, one of six coaches in the state to earn a spot this year. An induction banquet takes place April 26 in Randolph.
Coach Herman is the first football coach from the Vineyard to be inducted, and just the third Vineyard coach overall to earn a spot in the high school hall of fame. Previous inductees were girls’ basketball coach Bob Nute and boys’ basketball coach Jay Schofield.
In order to make it into the hall of fame, a football coach must have a total of 30 years on the job under his belt. This past season was Coach Herman’s 27th on the Vineyard; he coached for three years in Savannah, Ga., before moving here for what was supposed to be a one-year teaching and coaching gig. He plans to retire after the 2015 season.
Over his career, Coach Herman has posted a 225-105 record. In 2011, he celebrated his 200th career win, and was honored by the coaches’ association for the milestone.
Induction into the hall of fame is largely based on longevity, but when Coach Herman started the job, the honor wasn’t a consideration.
“Oh, heck no,” he said in an interview last week. “That was never really a thought of mine. The first I was really made aware of the possibility was when Vito [Capizzo] from Nantucket…got inducted into the hall of fame when he was still coaching.”
During Coach Herman’s tenure the Vineyard has made eight Super Bowl appearances, winning five of those times. They were outright champions of the Mayflower League eight times, and shared the title during one season. He has been named a coach of year by the Cape Cod Times and the Boston Globe. In 2008, Coach Herman was chosen to coach in the annual Shriners’ game, a spotlight for all-star athletes.
The Vineyard has won eleven straight Island Cup match-ups against Nantucket under Coach Herman. The come-from-behind wins against Nantucket in 1992 and 2012 still stand out as overall career highlights, along with the Super Bowl wins.
But the close losses linger, too.
“I try to forget those—you want to forget them, but you don’t,” Coach Herman said.
Since the announcement, former players and members of the coaching staff have reached out with congratulations.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with numerous fantastic assistant coaches, who’ve been tremendous to the program,” Coach Herman said. Former assistant coach Michael McCarthy, a guidance counselor at the high school, put Coach Herman’s name in this year when nominations were due.
This year’s hall of fame class also includes coaches from Acton-Boxborough, Belmont Hill, Middlesex, Milford, and Newton North.
“I’m going in with some good company,” Coach Herman said.
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