DREXELHILL: Friday May 4th is a date that Greg “Bubba” Bernhardt won’t soon forget. That afternoon he received a phone from the powers to be at Monsignor Bonner High School that a dream of his became a reality when the school announced he would take over for former head coach Tom Oropeza who stepped down earlier this year.
Bernhardt called the opportunity a “dreams come true” and added that hes very honor that school named him to the position.
The hire seemed unlikely several months ago when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that Bonner along with Conwell Egan,West Catholic and Little Flowerwould all close at the end of the school year. Only to have the Archdiocese change course and keep the schools open. Bernhardt said that he was heartbroken for the kids. The players also offer tremendous support in his favor and Bernhardt said it gave him a good feeling.
Bernhardt is a 1995 graduate of Bonner where he was a member of the 94 Catholic League championship team. One of his teams is NFLer Anthony Becht who this week took to twitter to endorse Bernhardt for the job.
Bernhardt started his coaching career at Bonner in 1999 under his coach Stump Coyne. He remained their until 2004 when he went to coach at Cardinal O’Hara. Bernhardt later came back to Bonner where hes been for the past several seasons.
