After two decades of dedication and leadership, the community reflects on Coach Jon Seal’s remarkable journey coaching soccer at Gilman. Seal will continue to inspire students in his Middle School language arts classroom.

In the spring of 2004, Gilman’s then Director of Athletics Tim Holley announced the hiring of new teacher and Head Soccer Coach Jon Seal, signaling the beginning of a transformational experience for the Gilman soccer program. Holley reflects, “I was overjoyed when Jon accepted our offer. He brought a new vision to Gilman for soccer while embracing our teacher-coach tradition.” Seal is the longest and winningest soccer coach in School history. 

Seal graduated as the career-scoring leader at McDonogh in 1988. He is the son of legendary McDonogh Coach Bill Seal, under whom he coached for 11 years before coming to Gilman. The other assistant coach Seal worked alongside at McDonogh, Steve Nichols — now the head coach at Loyola University — worked as McDonogh’s head coach during much of Seal’s Gilman tenure.

Nichols recalls when Seal was hired by Gilman. “Jon was the epitome of the son of a coach. He remains one of my best friends, and deserves credit for helping turn the McDonogh program into the class of the MIAA and a perennial national power before he came to rebuild the Greyhounds.”

Holley agrees. “His experiences as a player and coach at McDonogh built the foundation of the philosophy that he brought to Gilman. He didn’t hope that we would compete in the ‘A’ Conference; he expected it,” he says. “Over his 21 years of leading our soccer program, Jon has delivered on his promise to make us competitive in the ‘A’ Conference. In his tenure, we’ve been playoff contenders and ‘A’ Conference champions. I am very grateful to Jon for his commitment and success as the head of our soccer program for more than two decades. I take great pride in his accomplishments and value his collegiality and friendship.”

In his debut season in 2004, Seal was tasked with being competitive in the ‘A’ conference, something that hadn’t happened since the MSA conference championship in 1995. His team lost three games early on before a 2-1 victory over Boys’ Latin hinted at the transformation in the works. The Hounds built on that success and finished Seal’s first season 12-9-2. 

Rebuilding a program is an arduous task, though, and he continued to persevere. Sustained success began in 2008 when the Hounds finished 13-6-3, arriving as a perennial playoff and championship contender. In 2010, the Hounds finished with a remarkable 20-2-3 and captured the school’s only MIAA ‘A’ conference crown. Fittingly, Seal was named the Baltimore Sun All-Metro Coach of the Year, and the Hounds were ranked in the top 50 nationally. 

Nichols recalls that McDonogh was “the more talented team by far, but Jon’s team was just so organized and disciplined. They beat us 1-0, so clearly a credit to the coaching job he did with that group.” Gilman played for the title the following two years as well, marking the most successful sustained success on the pitch in School history. 

Regarding the 2011 championship game, a 1-0 McDonogh victory, Nichols says, “All year, Gilman was the toughest team for us to break down. They played incredibly hard, and the kids on the pitch took on the demeanor of their coach, making them a nightmare to prepare for.” Goalkeeper Andrew Harris ’12 was named the 2011-2012 Gatorade State Player of the Year (his jersey hangs in the Finney Arena lobby today). “Jon was a fixture in the MIAA for two decades, and the league will miss him on the sidelines.”

Overall, Seal amassed a 195-180-42 record across his 21 years at the helm. Just as important as success on the pitch, his commitment to excellence, sportsmanship, and unflagging effort never wavered, and he serves as a role model and embodiment of the teacher-coach-advisor model on which Gilman relies to grow boys of promise into men of character.