If his legacy will be measured in the enduring, eternal numbers of sports, Vancouver College head football coach Todd Bernett is racking up an impressive and already historic score sheet.
The stats speak of a successful program that demands nothing short of complete commitment at a place where loyalty and tradition are sewn into the purple and gold football jerseys.
Only 33 losses in 133 games. A 75 per cent win record over 13 seasons, better than all predecessors save one who was at the helm for only seven games. A provincial championship in 2012. And on Sept. 29, the 100th career win with Vancouver College for 41-year-old Bernett.
"I'm not afraid to say that it meant something to me," he said Wednesday afternoon, overlooking O'Hagan Field from the announcer's box as roughly 160 teenage boys began an afternoon football practice on time.
"Part of the reason why it does is because at this place, nobody else has done it and part of the reason nobody else has done it is because this is a tough place to..." He pauses and stretches his jaw, "to please the masses."
Since 1929, 26 different men have held the head coaching position at Vancouver College. Bernett's 13-year tenure is the longest.
"A lot of what we've done, and I say we because we've had a group of assistants that have been together, some of us since 1999, a lot of what we've done has been based on consistency and not being worn down by the wishes of others. Our vision of what the program needed to look like and what we needed to offer the boys has stood the test of time now. If there's a way of measuring that in a number, then 100 is maybe a number that shows that."
Besides, he added about the milestone, "I didnt want it hanging around week after week because that would mean we're losing."
More measurements that speak of the successful Fighting Irish football program include the eight alumni presently playing in the CFL, six of whom trained under Bernett, and the 18 graduates currently on Canadian and U.S. college teams. Former B.C. Lions president and CFL hall-of-famer Bob Ackles was another school alumnus.
In 2011, a CFL.ca reporter observed, "Vancouver College isn't a football factory — it's a football gold mine."
Bernett's coaching staff over the years include Rick Gazzola, Brian Taggard, Ten Hon Choo, Doug Pauls and Rob Kozikowski. Bernett asked that all be recognized in addition to John Simonise and recent graduates Andrew Lee, Daniel Cordick, Nigel Palma and Matt Esaw.
Of course, the football program at Vancouver College wouldn't be what it is without the Missus, Bernett's wife Andrea Prout-Bernett. Both are also teachers at the private Catholic school.
Players describe their coach as intense, dedicated and profoundly invested in their success. He is a coach who keeps score in the game of life and he's one you definitely want on your team.
"He mailed out literally hundreds of VHS tapes to different U.S. universities and helped me get scholarship offers from across the board, including many in the PAC-10," said Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski, a 2002 graduate of Vancouver College who accepted an offer at Louisiana State University, the first Canadian to do so.
Introduced to football in Grade 10, Dyakowski almost walked away after the first season. "I thought it wasn't for me. I wasn't going to go back and play."
But Bernett pulled him into the weight room during the off-season. "I put on 55 pounds in five months," said Dyakowski.
"There's a decent chance I wouldn't be playing football today if it wasn't for coach Bernett. It's true for me personally and true for a lot of guys."
With the 100th win, Bernett handed Centennial head coach Ryk Piche his first loss to the Irish since becoming the head coach of the Centaurs three season ago. The two football programs travel together for a football summer camp at Eastern Washington, Bernett's alma mater where he was the starting quarterback for the NCAA Div. 1 Eagles in the early '90s.
"In a lot of ways, I look to Van College and the way they run their program, their professionalism, and just how they prepare themselves," said Piche, who leads a program that has sent more players to college teams than any non-Catholic school in B.C. "In so many ways, they treat their young players like men."
Vancouver College principal John McFarland recognized the considerable pressure placed on the Fighting Irish football program and its head coach. But the 100th win isn't the only number he counts.
"I marvel at what he does with the boys," said McFarland. "Football is third on the list, it really is. It's about their character first, the effort and the work they put in is second and then the football. The football is there but it's third."
Character, effort and football: three things that add up to 100.
Twitter: @MHStewart
