Connell reinvents himself during second stint as Holy Spirit’s athletic director

By GIUSEPPE UNGARO Managing Editor The one luxury Jay Connell will afford himself in his second stint as Holy Spirit High School athletic director is a new phone. Jay Connell has spent more than three decades at Holy Spirit High School as both a teacher and athletic director, and was part of the school’s first graduating class from the current Absecon location back in 1968. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) The 63-year-old Connell, a long-time Holy Spirit employee, has to make do with a cramped office, no secretary, and a tiny budget partly made up from generous boosters’ donations. “When I was athletic director the first time it was the age before everything was on the computer,” Connell said. “Now I have to learn because everything is on the computer. It’s much less (verbal) communication between athletic directors. It’s a lot of emails and texts. “It means I have to get a new phone because I got The Palm. And 15 years ago it was state of the art. But it doesn’t get email or anything like that. So I have to get a smartphone.” The new purchase has to be made because Keith Gorman accepted a job earlier this year as the new baseball coach at Cumberland County College. This is the second time Connell accepted the AD job. The first time was after long-time friend and legendary coach Ed Byrnes passed away in 1996. “I told them I would give them my answer (after) 24 hours,” Connell said. “I think I knew what I was going to do, but I went home to sleep on it. I knew what it was going to entail.” “So when Keith Gorman left the job, there were some takers for the position. Jay said he would do it,” Holy Spirit Principal Susan Dennen said. “I think what he gave us by agreeing to take on the position is stability in the position. He knows everybody. He knows the officials, he knows the assigners. We didn’t want someone starting from scratch.” This time around Connell, not only has duties as a teacher, but is also the school’s assistant principal. Adding responsibility and time to the work day is not something most 63-year-olds agree to do. However, according to Dennen, Connell is completely devoted to Holy Spirit. Connell was part of the first graduating class in 1968 that entered the Absecon building as freshmen after moving from Atlantic City. “Mr. Connell is the institutional memory of Holy Spirit High School,” Dennen said, “When you need a question answered you go to Jay. He has the longevity, but he has the longevity of the school and the community. He has been a coach and he’s been an athletic director and he has been a teacher all those years here. He has touched the lives of thousands and thousands of people throughout those years, and he knows them all. He has the ability to remember names, faces and funny stories about them. They walk in the door, his face lights up, and he immediately tells a story about them. It’s unbelievable.” She added: “He was in the first graduating class here (Absecon) and he wears that mantle proudly. He takes it seriously, that role as protector of the school and all it stands for and all it means to the community.” “Well, I graduated from here. It gave me most of my background and my backbone,” Connell said. “I like to give back what I received.” Connell and the rest of the Holy Spirit High School community are fortunate that many of the alumni feel the same way. When it comes to athletics, the alumni enjoy and expect success. That is why so many take the time to pitch in and help the various programs. “Our alumni are very, very conscious of us playing well in the past and supporting teams that have done well,” Connell said. “We take a lot pride in that because programs that have succeeded, and people graduated 20 years ago help out. We don’t get enough tuition to run the school. Some of programs are run by former players who donate thousands of dollars to the sport they played and had a lot of fun in.” Part of Connell’s responsibility is to use that money wisely, along with working with various booster and alumni clubs to raise funds. That’s when he is not doing all his other duties as a Holy Spirit employee. “I’m going to give all I can give,” Connell said. Contact Giuseppe Ungaro: gungaro@acglorydays.com; on Twitter: @GDgisepu Jay Connell at a glance Age: 63 Graduated Holy Spirit: 1968; Part of first 4-year graduating class in Absecon building. Years at Holy Spirit as teacher: 33 years Years as Athletic director: 1996-2001; 2013- Coaching experience: Head girls basketball coach (4 years); Assistant football coach (15); Assistant baseball coach (5 years). Other current positions: Assistant Principal; History teacher (20th Century History and U.S. History I).