Daily Dive: Westminster lands Nelson Stewart from New Orleans-based Newman

The Westminster Wildcats announced the hiring of Nelson Stewart for the program’s new head football coach Thursday night and filled the vacancy left after long-time head coach Gerry Romberg’s retirement in November. Coach Romberg—who led Westmisnter to a state title in 2015 retired after 33 seasons with the Atlanta private school and a 42-year coaching career—leaving behind a tremendous 239-146 record and a resume that included 27 playoff berths, seven region titles, three state semifinal berths and that 2015 Class 3A championship that was won in overtime against Blessed Trinity at the Georgia Dome.

Stewart spent 19 seasons at his alma mater Isidore Newman—which is a private prep school in New Orleans. Coming from a metro-based private school is a parallel that will help coach Stewart in his transition to Westminster and his long-time spent with the Greenies is a good sign as he steps into a program that has not had a new head coach since 1992 when Romberg’s tenure began.

Stewart’s Newman teams were 162-54 with state playoff appearances in all 19 seasons, won seven district championships and advanced to the state quarterfinals or further six times. Additionally, Newman was the high school coach of Texas quarterback Arch Manning and NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and he was a former high school teammate of Peyton Manning.

Arch Manning, the nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning, was Newman’s starting quarterback from 2019 to 2022 and emerged as the consensus No. 1 prospect in the country as a senior.

Stewart also coached Beckham, the two-time All Pro wide receiver who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants as the favorite receiver of another Newman graduate, Eli Manning.

Stewart and Peyton Manning were teammates at Newman in the early 1990s. Stewart was captain of the 1994 Newman team and went on to play at Tulane.

“My family and I are so excited to join the Westminster community,” Stewart said in a statement that Westminster released announcing his hiring. “The opportunity to lead such an esteemed program at one of the finest institutions in the country is an honor and a privilege.”

Westminster finished 5-6 last season in Class 4 and will open the season in the Battle of Buckhead against rival Lovett in the 38th all-time meeting between the schools. The teams have split their last four meetings with the Lions winning 21-18 last year. Lovett has not won back-to-back games against Westminster since the 2018-17 seasons and Westminster owns that all-time series 23-14.

Tags:

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

*