The Magic of McGuinness

Football coach Kenny Young leaned back in his chair in his office, surrounded by pictures of championship moments, and smiled. Easy to do so from where he sits, just outside the north endzone of the football stadium fresh off a $1.5 million renovation. These are high times at Bishop McGuinness, where championships have come in bunches and accolades come from all over. And so has the criticism. At the corner of Northwest 50th Street and Western in Oklahoma City, the Irish have built themselves into the premier athletic success story in the state. And the Irish have done it in the face of some harsh criticism. How did the Irish become unrivaled in Oklahoma? Well, Young's answer is simple. "We have average kids who give us an above-average effort,'' he said. "That's a combination that works.'' Of course, it hasn't always been like this. Sure, there was the cross country and the tennis titles, but football and basketball success is - for the most part - recent. The basketball team never won a state title until 1989, and then didn't win another until 1998. Then came 2006. From then until now, McGuinness has earned 16 state championships, including this fall's girls cross country title - their fifth in a row. "This just might be our time,'' athletic director Gary Savely said. "We've had good kids going through and great coaches right now. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you're in the right place at the right time.'' That time is now. Starting in 2006, when the football team won its first state title, there have been state title celebrations in football again, marking a 28th win a row. The boys basketball team earned a third-consecutive basketball title. Tennis, cross country, soccer, golf and baseball all were crowned last season. Sports Illustrated named Bishop McGuinness the best athletic program in Oklahoma and the 11th-best in the nation. "With the academics and the athletics we have here, we're one of the premier schools around,'' said Gabe Ikard, who chose a football scholarship at Oklahoma over Notre Dame, Stanford and others. "It's a special place.'' Special. But not without criticism. The critics, and there are plenty, though none will speak on the record, point to recruiting, tuition waivers and athletic extravagance flaunted by the Irish. McGuinness has raised $18 million over the past seven years - $6 of which has gone to athletics. The basketball facility has been rebuilt and the football stadium has been renovated, and all of the money raised was through private donations. "People were giving to us because of the mission of Bishop McGuinness,'' says David Morton, president and principal at the school. "It's not because of the football seasons we've had. That money was there way before we went 28-0.'' But going 28-0 in football has been an issue. No one among the member schools made much of an issue of the success McGuinness had in cross country (19 state titles in the past 22 years on the girls side) or in tennis. But there have been uprisings because of football and basketball. "Seems like you can win anything,'' Morton said. "But once you start winning basketball and football, that's sacred turf.'' Sacred enough the concern has come from all over the state. "The heartburn begins when we get a prolonged winning streak by a school,'' said Danny Rennels, executive secretary of the Oklahoma Secondary School Athletics Association. "We always get lots of calls and complaints over prolonged winning. We get numerous questions and complaints on why they are successful. We got them for El Reno wrestling, Jenks football, Asher baseball. What we hear is that those schools are winning, and it must be cheating.'' Rennels pointed out numerous public schools that he has received complaints about, but it's the private schools like McGuinness that face more scrutiny. After all, they are a private business, one that needs students to stay in business. "No one ever calls me and asks directly about what we do athletically,'' Morton said. "It's the off-handed comments you hear. When I was coaching, I'd hear that we only win because we can get any kid we want.'' That perception has been damaging, despite the fact that 21 of the 22 starters on last season's state championship football team grew up going to Catholic schools. The basketball team features national name Daniel Orton, a Kentucky commit, who grew up in the Catholic school system. All but one player on its roster is the same. When McGuinness won four titles in a row from 1998-2001, all but one of the players grew up in the Catholic school system. Meanwhile, there are no athletic scholarships or tuition waivers for athletes. "Most of the people who understand high school sports know that we don't recruit kids for athletics,'' Savely said. "It's people who don't investigate what's going on that are saying those things. The OSSAA is on top of us all the time.'' Regardless, the perception, or even more so, the winning, has forced McGuinness to try and mend what has become a strained relationship with other OSSAA schools. Recently, McGuinness and other private schools in the OSSAA, came up with a plan to reduce their school boundaries by up to 80 percent, thus addressing concerns that McGuinness and the other private schools are drawing students in from all over. "This is the way it works,'' said Oklahoma Christian School athetic director Dallas Caldwell, who deals with some of the same issues. "High profile players get you noticed.'' McGuinness has had impact players Terrance Crawford and Orton in basketball. OCS won with players Taylor and Blake Griffin. Heritage Hall earned a state football title with Wes Welker. Those type of players and a high level of success tend to polarize the private schools. "I never attempt to defend the schools who are having success and play by the rules,'' said Rennels. "But I do receive questions. And we receive questions because they are successful.'' The secret is simple, Young says. There's no mystery to how McGuinness has become successful. "There's no question you have to have talented kids,'' he said. "And we've had solid athletic classes the past three or four years. But what people don't know is that these kids have an incredible work ethic. We have coaches at this school in every sport, not just football, who get the most out of the talent we have. You have to give credit to the kids who are willing to work and sacrifice.'' That includes going to a school where 99 percent of the students graduate and 80 percent go on to graduate from college. At McGuinness, a uniform is mandatory, the academic work load is significant and athletes are treated no different than the tuba players. "We're non-traditional,'' Morton said. "Our kids are in uniforms. I hold our kids to a level that most schools can't or wont do. If there is a problem outside of school time that you are involved in, I may invoke school rules to handle that problem. I expect our students to honor the privilege of going to school here. They know at McGuinness, you're a student 24-7.'' All of which leads to success on the field, court, track and beyond. And all of which leads to more and more questions. "You hear all sorts of stuff and it does get frustrating,'' said Ikard, whose test scores were good enough to qualify for entry at Stanford. "What's funny is no one said a word when we weren't winning as much. But we go 14-0 and everyone says I've been recruited.''