Another longtime Palm Beach County football coach is leaving his position.
Forest Hill football coach Jude Blessington has stepped down after eight seasons at the helm of the West Palm Beach program, according to Falcons athletic director Ronald Kotouch. Offensive coordinator Jim Basford is the team’s interim coach, Kotouch said.
“What Jude did here at Forest Hill was nothing short of incredible,” Kotouch said.
Blessington said he decided to step down as head coach so he could spend more time with his family and coach his sons in sports.
“It was just simply a matter of family,” Blessington said. “Right now, I’m coaching my boys in two different sports, and it’s six days a week, minimum. Sometimes it’s seven. I enjoy coaching them, and I think I’ve been selfish. They’ve not said this to me, but they’re young; they wouldn’t. I’m afraid I’m going to look back and be like, ‘Man, I wish I would’ve been around more for my own three kids.’ That’s all it is. It just takes so much time, and I don’t want to stay and do it not the right way.”
Blessington leaves the Falcons with a 44-31 record, which is made all the more impressive considering Forest Hill’s lack of success on the football field before he took over the program in 2013. The Falcons lost 43 straight games from 1999-2003, which was the longest losing streak in state history. They had a second losing streak of 37 games from 2005-2009.
In the three years before Blessington’s tenure, the Falcons went 2-27; they won only eight games from 1999 through 2012, according to the Palm Beach Post.
“I’m real proud of the kids and the coaches,” Blessington said. “We did it together. That’s the most important thing when I think of how it was done. It was done together. I feel it is a special place, and it was a special thing we did. I don’t think we coukd’ve done it without the guys we had. I’ve said this on record before, but it’s just such a cool thing to have a bunch of people working together towards a common goal. You can really get a lot of stuff done that way.
“I’ll look back fondly always. I’m really very grateful. My staff is just so hard-working and loyal and caring, and they’re all such good men, and they’ve made my life and my job easy while I was there.”
In 2017, Forest Hill went 9-2 and made the playoffs for only the third time in school history. It was the Falcons’ first playoff berth since 1996. He was named the Sam Budnyk Coach of the Year as Palm Beach County’s top high school football coach in 2017. He was also the Sun Sentinel’s 2017 Palm Beach County large schools coach of the year.
“One assistant coach noted today in our meeting that he deserves a statue at the football field,” Kotouch said. “I couldn’t agree more. Jude was definitely a game-changer in Palm Beach County. He didn’t do things the way South Florida does things. With all the noise that we hear in South Florida about kids transferring and what teams are paper champions, Jude always had his teams coached up and prepared to play and compete with any team. He left his mark with every student-athlete and coach who was a part of the Forest Hill football program over the last eight years.
“During our first playoff run in over 30 years in [2017], I believe there were 13 seniors on that team. All 13 kids had been in the program all four years since their freshman year, and all 13 kids went on to either play college ball or attend a college or technical school. Kids developing and becoming men who will become game-changers in their communities is what should be remembered most about the Forest Hill football program under the leadership of Jude Blessington and his staff.”
Forest Hill is the latest in a series of vacancies left by long-time local coaches. Atlantic coach T.J. Jackson, Santaluces coach Brian Coe and Wellington coach Tom Abel have also stepped down since the football season ended. Along with Blessington, they had spent a combined 39 years as head coaches in Palm Beach County.
