William "Doc" Dougherty Obituary

William "Doc" Dougherty was faculty at Garden City High School in Garden City, NY. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about William "doc" Dougherty.

School Role	Faculty
Date of Passing	Mar 19, 2021
About	William "Doc" Dougherty used to burn through VCRs like they were going out of style, which they eventually did. The longtime Garden City High School boys lacrosse coach was so hungry for an edge that he would pull all-nighters before games, watching film in his Freeport home until the sun came up - or the VCR broke, whichever came first. "The night before [games], he never slept," said Janet Dougherty, his wife of 21 years. "It consumed him. We would go through a VCR once a month, maybe once every two months." Doc Dougherty, who coached lacrosse for 33 seasons at Garden City and one season at Lawrence and won 567 games, died March 19 of interstitial lung disease at his home, his wife said. He was 79. "He was an icon, that guy," said longtime assistant Doug Dwyer, 66, of Garden City. While at Garden City, Dougherty won 26 regular-season conference titles, 11 Nassau County titles, nine Long Island Championships, and four state championships. His program once won 47 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Nassau history and fifth-longest in Long Island history, according to Newsday records. "Doc was a throwback coach," Dwyer said. "He ruled the roost. He ran the show. It was his team. It wasn't anyone else's. The administrators didn't have say. They picked him as a coach, and he coached the way he wanted to coach." Dougherty was a physical education teacher for over 45 years, primarily at Garden City High School. He had all the familiar markings of an old-school coach. His practices were hard, his rules were rigid, and his teams were always better for it. "He was a General Patton," Dwyer said. "He was a leader. He was a commanding force and a brilliant coach. His practices were really tough and competitive. Practices were hard, the games were easy." Dougherty's lacrosse success extended beyond the high school level. He won two under-19 club world championships, taking players to Japan and Australia to compete. He also coached the men's club team at Hofstra and the New York Saints, a professional lacrosse team, his wife said. He was inducted into the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018. "He knew how to motivate kids," said former South Side lacrosse coach Joe Baccarella, 57, of Farmingdale. "He had a lot of talent at Garden City, but I don't think he played favorites, and I think people respected him for that. He was a no-nonsense type of guy." While the spring season was all about lacrosse, the fall was for football. Dougherty coached varsity football at Garden City from 1981 to 1984, reaching the conference finals in all four years and winning twice. He was the offensive coordinator at Hempstead when they won four straight Conference I playoff titles from 1985 to 1988, before moving back to Garden City, where he coached the junior varsity until 2007. "He was as prepared as anyone I've ever seen," said close friend Seth Messier, 46, of Rockville Centre, one of Dougherty's football assistants. "He coached JV football like he was coaching a varsity sport. We'd take the kids into watch films. He would critique them. One thing Doc always said, 'If you critique them on something and you're telling them to do something, you always have to give them an accolade as well.' " (Source: Newsday 5/27/2021)