After five remarkable years at the helm of one of Jamaica’s best schoolboy football programmes, Miguel Coley recently decided to end his tenure as head coach in pursuit of a new challenge overseas.

His achievements of securing the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles in all five years, along with a slew of other trophies, was appropriately recognised on Saturday during the 25th staging of the Purewater/JC/R Danny Williams Track and Field Development Meet, held at the school.

Coley, who is a trained teacher, began his coaching career very early after sustaining a career-ending injury while playing premier league football for Waterhouse FC.

His coaching career at the schoolboy level started at Norman Manley High, where he began as an assistant to Alrick Clarke before assuming the role of head coach and eventually guiding the school to the semi-final stages of the Manning Cup.

The Mico graduate moved into the vacant head coaching position at Jamaica College in 2013, making an immediate impact by winning the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield double. His success in that year caught the attention of then head coach of the Reggae Boyz Winfried Schafer, who drafted Coley in as his assistant.

The following year would see Coley become the first coach to land what was then called the LIME Super Cup, (later renamed the FLOW Super Cup), along with defending the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles.

While falling to rivals St George’s College in the final of the Super Cup in 2015, he guided his team to victories in the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield to make it three in a row in both competitions.

With many people thinking that 2016 would have been the year Coley would have been dethroned, the JC juggernaut continued to roll on and another double was achieved, much to the shagrin of his many detractors.

His final year as head coach in 2017 was the most pleasing for the man who became the first coach to win the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield double five years in a row, as he added the elusive Walker Cup title to his impressive CV.

The Walker Cup had been the only title Coley failed to win up to that time, as he claimed yet another triple crown at the helm with the “True Blues”. Continuous success at the Under-19 level eventually transcended the entire school football programme, with Jamaica College going on to claim seven of eight possible trophies including the Urban Area Under-16 and Under-14 titles, as well as the All-Island titles in both divisions in 2017.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer shortly after being honoured, a teary-eyed Coley was delighted with his honour.

“It’s a fantastic feeling and I am just so happy. There are so many people that have done an outstanding job for Jamaica College and to the wider Jamaica, so to be honoured and to be among those persons who have been honoured before, is really fantastic and really exciting for me,” he said.

Coley expects that the JC dominance in schoolboy football will continue despite his departure.

“I hope and I know it is very likely that the winning mentality will continue, because we have a very solid programme here. We have persons who we can trust, persons who are committed, and the coach that will be coming in will do a fantastic job also,” he suggested.

While proud of his legacy the former Bellefield daCosta Cup player made it clear that it was not an easy feat to accomplish.

“My legacy is humbling to me. Every year was different; different players, different mindset, the society changes — so to win every single year is always good. It is not easy though, it is very, very difficult. But being here made it much easier.

“I will always be a part of the family here. I am happy that I came here, it was mutually beneficial. It has been a journey and I will never leave; my spirit will always be here,” Coley ended.

Coley will link up again with the German Schafer in Iran, where he will take up the assistant coach’s role at club side, Esteghial.