Jared Clark doesn’t describe himself as fashionable. The head coach doesn’t care too much about design or colors. But for the past few months, Clark has dabbled in the art form. That’s part of the reason why Cardinal Mooney’s 2025 championship rings look the way they do.
The head — made of diamonds, of course — is shaped like a football stadium with a Cardinal Mooney Cougar on top, the mascot's outline hanging over the sides.
Just under the stone, “STATE CHAMPS” is traced in red. On the shoulders, one side has the recipients’ last name, a helmet with a letter to mark their position and the team’s record (14-1) below it. On the other side, it says “TNT,” a phrase that describes Cardinal Mooney’s culture with the image of a 2A state championship trophy under it.
Oh, and don’t forget the inside — Clark’s favorite part — which lists every team Cardinal Mooney faced in the playoffs and the games' outcomes on the team's way to the title.
“You can’t do whatever you want, right?” Clark said, donning the new ring and one from 2023 on his right hand. “But we were all involved in designing the ring…I love the way these two look.”
Cardinal Mooney held its ring ceremony on Thursday, April 23, celebrating its 2025 FHSAA Class 2A state championship. In December, the Cougars overpowered Jacksonville Bolles, 52-28, scoring on all eight of its possessions. After a 53-year drought, Cardinal Mooney earned its second title in program history in 2023. It only took the Cougars two years to get another.
Cardinal Mooney finished the season 14-1, averaging 45.3 points per game. Behind their best defensive line in program history, the Cougars also held their opponents to 14 or fewer points in 11 of their 15 games.
“When you see that ring, it should not be representative of winning a championship, but the journey along the way,” Principal Ben Hopper said to the football players overflowing the bleachers, "And the young men you have become.”
For 45 minutes, four months after the initial celebration on the field, that same excitement came back as Cardinal Mooney football gathered once again.
“I want all you guys to know that this is not a normal thing,” Athletic Director Rafael Fernandez said. “There’s a lot of student-athletes who go through four years of high school, and they never see a state championship game, let alone a state championship.”
Father Sykes blessed the rarity, sprinkling “top shelf” holy water from Ireland over the rings.
And as Clark watched his players grab their new hardware — seniors first, freshman last — he couldn’t help but reminisce about his 2025 squad.
“I remember a group of guys that were extremely talented,” Clark said. “They had to learn how to play with each other. They had to learn to trust each other, and trust their culture, and play together with the team. And it took us a couple of weeks to get through.”
By playoffs, Cardinal Mooney averaged 25 points in the first half alone.
“I remember our playoff run and how much these guys were bought in,” Clark said. “Jacksonville Bolles is a good football team, and I think the way we performed in the state championship speaks volumes about how much these guys decided that they can come together and be selfless.”
And while the 2025 team was on his mind then, sometimes Clark reminisces even further. He tries not to. At times, memories just seep through. Clark has been around Cardinal Mooney since he was 13, when he watched his older brother take the field. As a Cougar, Clark played quarterback for four years before earning a spot at Notre Dame.
In 2020, when Clark came back to lead Cardinal Mooney, he wanted moments like Thursday, where almost every one of his players twisted and turned their hands to catch every angle and detail of the ring.
With spring football practices starting Monday, Clark hopes the ceremony is a reminder of the great things Cardinal Mooney has done and, more than anything, what the Cougars can continue to do.
“When I came back to coach here, this is what we wanted to do,” Clark said. “We wanted to turn it into a state championship caliber team. The team now consistently competes for state championships. The fact that we are doing that. We’ve done that the last three years. It just makes you want to keep going.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cardinal Mooney football celebrates 2025 Class 2A state title