In his mind, he had at least one year left. John Goddard would return to the sidelines for the Royal Oak Shrine football team for his 50th year as a head coach, and then, there’d be a serious consideration about calling it a career. But that decision proved not to be Goddard’s, as the long-time Knights coach was told recently he would not be brought back for his 26th season with the program. “I got called in for a meeting, and they said they were going in a different direction,” Goddard said last week, the shock of his career coming to an end still evident in his tone. “I really have no idea why. I mean, I had no idea it was coming or why this happened. The bottom line is, I was fired. That’s what I want stressed. They fired me.” Shrine finished 2017 with a 3-6 record, missing the state playoffs for just the second time since 2003. Three of this year’s losses came by a combined 11 points. According to Goddard, the offseason plan was already in place and his focus was on the 2018 season, which he admitted would likely be his last. When contacted for this story, Shrine Athletic Director Benjamin Kerfoot said the only comment the school wished to make was done so in a release to the parents of the parish. “Coach John Goddard recently completed 25 years of service as the head football coach of Shrine Catholic High School,” the press release, signed by Monsignor Robert J. McClory, the president of Shrine Catholic Schools, said. “On behalf of the entire Shrine community, we would like to thank Coach Goddard for his dedication, commitment, and success over the years. As an alumnus and a valued member of the Shrine community, we will always be grateful for his years of service. With his 25-year tenure now concluded, Shrine High School will start a search for our next head football coach to be in place to begin serving for the 2018 football season. We will be establishing a search committee and ask for your prayers for Coach Goddard and his family and that the Holy Spirit will guide our search for a new head coach.” Goddard said he asked why he was being let go and that they said “they were going in a different direction for the betterment of the program.”
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