Eastbayri.com

SEEKONK — Jack Whalen’s recent transgressions have cost him his football job.

Seekonk system athletic director Ray Grant announced Friday night, Feb. 17, the high school would not be renewing the contract of Whalen, whose career as the Warriors’ head coach comes to a close after four seasons in the top job and nearly a decade on the staff.

Whalen made news for all the wrong reasons over the last few weeks. First, the 56-year-old current resident of North Dighton and Warren, R.I. native was charged by Rehoboth Police with Driving Under the Influence, Jan. 26. Whalen’s woes were exacerbated Thursday, Feb. 9, when was again cited by Rehoboth Police, this time for driving on a suspended license.

“His contract will not be renewed,” Grant said of Whalen’s job status Friday. “We certainly appreciate all of the things Jack did for the football program and in the community during his time here. I think ultimately we felt it was in the best interest of the student-athletes and the community to move in another direction.”

Under the circumstances, even Whalen acknowledged he would likely lose his position during a phone conversation earlier in the week. Whalen used words like “embarrassed” and “ashamed” when discussing his predicament, his dry sense of humor replaced with a melancholia derived from the severity of his mistakes.

For Grant, Seekonk school administrators and politicos, the decision to relieve Whalen of his football coaching duties was pretty straight forward. It would have been extremely difficult for him to have credibility as a role model for the young men over whom he presided.

“It’s the reason why his contract is not being renewed,” Grant said of Whalen’s arrests, which could ultimately see him spend time in jail according to state-mandated sentencing. “We wish him nothing but the best, but it is time to move on.”

Grant said he expects the vacancy to be posted publicly in the next few business days. He hopes to find a suitable replacement as soon as possible.

“We’re going to move to find a replacement as quickly as we can,” Grant said. “I would expect with the things we have in place we should be able to find a very qualified coach.”

The person who takes over for Whalen will be in a much better position than when he originally came to the program nearly a decade ago.

Whalen joined the staff of then-Seekonk head coach Dave Morgado as the latter tried to raise the Warriors from some two decades of being in the dregs. Morgado, Whalen and the rest of the staff succeeded, eventually helping build Seekonk into a title-contending team.

The Warriors reached their zenith under Morgado in the fall of 2007 when they went unbeaten during the regular season to win the South Coast Conference for the first time and qualify for the postseason for the first time in school history.

Lured by the prestige and reputation of Durfee High, Morgado departed Seekonk a few months later. Whalen was the obvious and popular choice to ascend to the head coaching spot, and he pretty much kept the Warriors in the top half of the SCC during the rest of his stay.

Whalen’s presence will be missed not only at the high school level but also in the youth ranks where he worked closely with the Seekonk Jr. Warriors football program to develop interest in the sport at its grassroots.

“Any time you have a transition from coach-to-coach, whether it’s football or another sport, there’s going to be an adjustment period. Even though they worked together, we went through that when Dave left and Jack took over,” Grant added. “But I expect the football program to remain very competitive no matter who we hire to take over.”