CARROLL STANDOUTS ARE BUYING INTO HEAD COACH HONICK'S CULTURE
- Al Thompson
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The Archbishop John Carroll Patriots football team weathered through a tough 3-7 campaign, going 0-6 in Catholic League play.
Carroll has enjoyed only one winning season since 2007 when the program finished 10-3, just a few years after winning the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship three years in a row (2000, 2001, and 2002).
The one winning season came in 2019 when the Pats defeated Roman Catholic 15-7 in a Thanksgiving eve matchup at Carroll to secure the winning season.
Entering the 2024 season, Carroll administrators decided to move on from head coach Kyle Detweiler who had coached the Patriots since the 2018 season.
Stephen Honick (Carroll class 2017) became ninth head coach in school history and fourth since the long time coach Dan Bielli retired back in 2010.
Honick-a standout quarterback for the Patriots from 2013 to 2016 – vowed to change the culture of losing that had taken over the culture.
It is a tremendous undertaking the young coach has accepted. Carroll is far from the first sports program to get stuck in such a cycle.
While the program has lost a lot of games during his first two seasons, there are signs the culture is changing.
CARROLL PLAYERS ARE BUYING IN HONICK'S PROGRAM
The Patriots have at last two bright lights that bring a level of hope for the 2026 season.
Wide receiver/defensive back Tyty Mattison, who will be a senior next fall, is a touchdown machine.
The websites that cater to high school sports are not always 100 percent accurate, so we'll go with Coach Honick's numbers. After all, he was there.
In 2024, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound speedster scored 18 touchdowns four different ways as a junior in 2025.
Mattison rushed for two, scored on a pick-six and a kick return. The rest were catches in the
end zone.
Once rumored to be transferring after his sophomore season Mattison says he likes what he sees.
“Before last year, and even early last year, everybody wasn't following the program,” Mattison said inside the Dom D’Alicandro Weight room, named after the former Carroll center Dominic D’Alicandro, Jr. who lost his life in a motorcycle accident in 2006. “They were just doing the old things. But when a new coaching staff came, it was like, I saw the whole program change.
“The coaches changed. Like, everybody really wanted it. The kids, they put in a time and effort last year. Nobody really wanted it before last year. We all came as one this year.
“But if we just all stay in one mind and focus, like training in the off season. No off days. If you really want to make it where you want to go, like into the next level, you got to keep training. That's the number one thing you gotta have...a good mind.”
Mattison was asked how he can transfer his stats into more wins in 2026, especially league wins.
“I gotta keep working. I have to keep focusing on my route running and catches,” said Mattison, who lists former Eagles/Falcons quarterback Mike Vick as his favorite NFL player and Eagles All Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown as his favorite Eagles player. “Next year, by focusing on track, I have to get bigger and faster. I have to stay in my own zone, be a leader. When the team is going down, I can't allow the team to go down. As a senior rising up, I can't let my team down.”
CEASAR RICHERSON IS AN EMERGING STANDOUT TWO-WAY PLAYER
Coach Honick refers to defensive end/tight end Ceasar Richardson as an athletic “freak of nature.”
The soon to be third-year head coach said Richardson was going to be “ginormous for us going forward.”
Indeed, Richardson is special. He was a standout not only on the football field but as a member of Carroll's storied basketball program.
Richardson, who still has two years to help the Patriots rack up some league wins, but impress college scouts.
Richardson said he believes his future is at the defensive end position.
“I think the team has to mesh together,” Richardson said at the same session at Carroll recently. My freshman year, we didn't really have it.
"Once Coach Steve came in, he changed it. He changed the whole culture around, he changed Carroll football. At first, it was just like...'oh, you played for a football team, okay...whatever.'
"Now it's like... 'You play for a football team? Okay, I'm coming to the game even though we may not we're not winning. They are coming because we're playing hard. We play harder than ever...than it ever was before. I think we could get a lot of Catholic League wins next year.”
Carroll plays in the Philadelphia Catholic League. Three of the teams – LaSalle, Roman Catholic and St. Joe's Prep are all ranked among the Top 100 teams in the United States by websites such a MaxPreps.
Bonner/Prendie won the PIAA 4A State championship in 2025 and are pretty solid this year.
Getting a better culture is likely the best way to get players to believe they can be on the same level as these teams.
Richardson, who lists Los Angeles Rams Linebacker Jared Verse as his favorite NFL player, was asked if he thinks Carroll can start to walk with the better programs in the Catholic League like it did years ago.
“Yes,” the 6-2, 220 pounder said without hesitation.
How will you accomplish that?
“By being a man,” said Richardson, who lists Eagles legendary linebacker Brandon Graham as his favorite Eagles player. “By being the best man that I can be around the guys, being a good leader. I want to be somebody that the younger guys will say, 'You need to be like him. Be like him on the field and off the field, in the classroom, out of the classroom.”
Coach Honick was asked what he thinks will help his Patriots start making some noise in league play.
“We need to be more physical,” Honick said. “We need to get more conditioning to get more physical on the field. We can get those wins if we push for that.”
He certainly has players who will follow his lead. *
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
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