So…as we have hinted a little bit a couple of times, Bergen County statistician/historian and legendary Jets fan Jim McConville and I have been debating the top 5 public school football coaches in North Jersey.
It really started as just a conversation, and then we said, gee, let’s turn this into a 2-person roundtable. Wait a minute, are we sure this is a good idea? Well, 3000 words later, here you go.
DARREN: So Jim, I will go first, are we doing this ranking guys? Or just kind of throwing out a top five or so? I know you have Chuck Johnson in your five, you two are like brothers. Y’all even talk alike.
JIM: You mean I have that Maroon coach speak down, eh? I guess that’s the product of being the Ridgewood beat writer for 28 years (missed only 3 games in that time). So, I guess we should set some ground rules. The goal is to come up with the top five ACTIVE Public school coaches as of the end of the 2013 season, which means Bob Valli of Cresskill is still eligible since he is retiring after this year. I don’t think we need to rank them 1-5, but if you really want to go there, maybe we come up with a combined top 5 and rank them together. Criteria isn’t just winning, it’s about the program they run and their ability to relate to their players.
I’ll get the Johnson angle out right away. Chuck is definitely in my top five, and it goes beyond the 233 wins he has (including his years at Bogota, which I know you were surprised to find out about). In all of his years, you would be hard pressed to find even a handful of players who went on to Division 1 colleges to play. He is the master of the Wing-T offense and he gets the most out of his players, who in many cases are lacrosse players at heart. He seems to get players to overachieve, and his teams always seem to play the better teams competitively. Of his 198 wins at Ridgewood, 12 have come against Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph. This was the first year he didn’t have one of the big three on his schedule (there were years where he played 2 of them a season). His teams are always prepared, there is no dissension amongst the troops and I can’t remember the last time there was any kind of parental grumbling. He is one of the most well-respected figures in high school sports.
DARREN: I think the world of Chuck Johnson and remember his teams even when I was working in Montclair an eon ago. Man, they hated to play Ridgewood and the wing-T offense. I think everybody does. I don’t know though about that offense any more. It just doesn’t seem to fit the style of football in 2013, but I guess the proof is in the results, and Ridgewood is unbeaten right now. And yes, I was totally surprised about Bogota. Remember, only 10 years for me up here. I’m still a young whipper-snapper. I wasn’t even born the last time the Jets won, er, the only time the Jets won the Super Bowl.
He’s on my list of guys to consider. I’m not revealing my final five until we get to the very end.
JIM: So, I get to drop some names first. OK, I’ll give you my three locks – Johnson, Dan Sabella of Paramus and Drew Gibbs of Ramapo. Let me go with Drew first. I don’t know if you knew this, but he spent a number of years as the offensive coordinator at Ridgewood with Chuck in the ’90s before moving on to Ramapo. In 13 seasons, he is 106-37 with four championships, but beyond that, he has become an innovative offensive guru who has gained national respect for the way he runs his program. Ask Drew and he’ll tell you that he learned a lot from Chuck, but he has developed into what people call a ‘player’s coach,’ a guy who kids love to play for. He has an engaging enthusiasm on the sideline that is contagious and his team truly believes they will win every time they step on the field.
DARREN: Yeah, I do like Drew Gibbs a ton. It’s funny though, we were talking about Chuck and the old wing-T, but here is Drew now with basically his “Oregon-lite†offense. He has adapted so well with the times, and just been successful year-in year-out. He’s got a bit of a professorial approach to the game that works. If anything, even putting Gibbs in my Top 5, I still feel like he is underrated in a lot of ways.
JIM: As for Dan, he is the most sought-after coach out there. Every time a job opens up, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is Dan Sabella. And with good reason. Like my first two choices, he is a tireless worker who gets all of his kids to overachieve. He took Bogota to a championship (amazing how the lineage of these three guys is intertwined, isn’t it?) before moving on to Paramus, where he grabbed the challenge of turning around a moribund program with both hands. All he’s done is take them to the post-season 7 straight times (after Paramus had only 1 playoff appearance before his arrival), including this year’s first-ever sectional final. He is 48-27 with the Spartans heading into Thanksgiving Day against Ridgewood, by far the most successful coach in Spartan annals, and many think he’s doing it with smoke and mirrors. Ask his team, and they’ll tell you that he has them convinced that their hard work will always pay off, and every year he gets every last ounce out of the players.
OK, I’ve put myself out there (yeah, I know, I went chalk, but somebody make the argument against any of these three guys); you’re turn to reveal what’s behind your door 1, 2 and 3.
DARREN: Some guys I guess are no-brainers, if you even asked a casual North Jersey football fan, they’d likely tell you Dan Sabella at Paramus, DJ Nimphius at River Dell, Bob Valli at Cresskill, Craig Nielsen is definitely one of my five. Mahoney at Pompton Lakes. And then I think a couple of guys who don’t get enough credit for getting results out of what they get like Vic Tribuzio at Ramsey and a Barry Blauvelt at Wallington.
But let’s see, so you have Chuck Johnson, who, I will make another point, I think Chuck is really revitalized after overcoming some health issues the last few years. I think I tell this story a lot, but I see Chuck down the shore at least once a summer, and man, I hope I look as good as him when I’m his age. You put up Drew Gibbs and Dan Sabella. Man, you did go pretty chalk.
At the top of my list, and as I just hinted, is Craig Nielsen. I guess I will always have a soft spot for coaches who do multiple sports, and honestly, I probably first knew Craig from softball. I also, if and when I do my 10-year retrospective, still list the Valley-Lenape Valley football game as the best one I ever witnessed in person. That was back a few years ago. What I like about Craig is, he basically has a style and says, here we come….stop us if you can. But he’s also got a great sense of humor and fantastic perspective on the game. And the kids love him – I love the “Hoagie of the Week†tradition – also, I honestly think if we took a blind poll of coaches in the area, he would be listed as one of the best. And as great as Sabella has shown, I think a lot of people want to see Nielsen win a sectional title next week. I’m bringing hedge trimmers. So he can get a hair cut, finally.
After that? My next one, in no particular order has to be Nimphius. I love watching the guy coach. Reaching 4 sectional finals in the last 7 years, that’s something not a lot of people can say. I was tempted to say to him after the Mahwah game, “hey, where are all your 6-2, 230 pound guys?†because he doesn’t have any. He just has guys that fly to the football, are disciplined and play hard. And this team he has, as he made the point to me after the game, is probably sneaky-good, because they only lost to 3 really good teams. And I know this is a coaches thing, but River Dell running back Dylan Connolly is going to be a star, man, he can fly.
Sabella is certainly in my top 5 and I can only agree with everything you say. The one note I will point out is, if/when he does get a job at a bigger school….it will be different for him. I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say, but coaching a team with a lot of talent takes a different skill set than coaching up some hungry kids. Believe me, I’m not saying he can’t do it, I’m just saying its a different type of challenge. We aren’t talking non-publics here, but you know what I mean. I think.
JIM: Darren, you’re creating a second version of this, the most UNDERRATED coaches. That’s where I put guys like Tribuzio and Blauvelt. But for now we’ll stick to the top five. I’ve got two to go. Nielsen is one. Doing to a Pascack Valley game is always kind of cool, especially home games, where I usually get the opportunity to chat it up pre-game with Jeff Jasper, a fellow Midland Park graduate (a sad note, by the way. Former Midland Park football/baseball coach and athletic director Sonny Santorine passed away Monday at 89; he was the guy who helped give me my start when he spotted me at age 11 charting one of the varsity baseball games. He handed me the official book and a career was born). You watch the Indians and they are always a disciplined group, from the way they enter the field to the way they exit the field and everything in between. Nielsen has a way, much like my other three guys, and he takes the average to above average athlete and melds them together into a unit that is always stronger than the sum of its parts. How nice would it be for him to win it this year after graduating 30 seniors from last year’s oh-so-close team.
Where do I go for number five? I have to admit, River Dell’s run this year has given cause to Nimphius. He’s another of those guys who seems to get things out of kids that, especially in this day and age, is atypical. I just don’t know if I’m ready to put him over, say a Bob Valli, who has been an institution at Cresskill and has 212 wins himself along with a long tradition of successful teams (four sectional titles). D.J. is 82-28 through last weekend with one 12-0 season and title in 10 years. Darn, I’m really torn on this one.
While I ponder that, I’ll answer your Sabella thought. To me, there are guys who are natural leaders when it comes coaching. That’s kind of where I’m going with this top five list. Every one of these guys has that coaching “it†factor. So, I’ll do a let’s suppose…….that Tony Karcich steps down at St. Joseph and Dan Sabella is named the new coach of the Green Knights. I know it won’t happen, but, let’s suppose. I think Sabella would be the perfect guy to step into the shadow of Tony’s very large footprint. He is a no-ego guy who puts all of his emphasis on his players. Not only would be successful from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but if you’re one of those high school football ‘free agents’ where would you rather plant yourself, with a coach who may or may not be there for your full four years (let’s face it, Toal isn’t going to be at Bosco forever and Nunzio and BC is tenuous despite what we’re being told) or with a young coach who is getting the opportunity to cement his legacy? Remember, Toal started at Saddle Brook and went to Hackensack (winning at both) before Don Bosco. Dan’s seems to be on the same path.
OK, I’ve got to pick. I’m going to go with the guy who, at least at this point, seems to be more of the “it†guy. Nimphius is my fifth. Geez, I’m looking at this group and I’m thinking, I wonder if they would make a good basketball team. I’ve got some toughness down low (Johnson, Nielsen and Sabella) and some creativity up top (Gibbs and Nimphius).
So, are we there with our top five or are you going to throw me a curve ball?
DARREN: First, I love what you say about Sabella if/when he moves on to a different place. And who knows if that will even happen? But I like what you say about being a natural leader and it carrying over.
Ok, so let’s see, I guess I have Chuck Johnson, Drew Gibbs, DJ Nimphius and Sabella. A curve ball eh? The next guy on my list has to be Nick Delcalzo from Hasbrouck Heights. Now, I was just teasing before about being around 10 years, but it’s true and this year was the first time I had ever seen a Heights game in person, but I know his reputation and his accomplishments.
And here is the thing that struck me the most about watching Heights play, and maybe its a lesson for coaches everywhere. It sounds so simple, but it’s true.
Everyone was a part of the team.
What do I mean by that? I mean in watching Heights play, you get the sense that everyone knows they will get their chance to shine. They may carry the ball 5 times, may get it thrown to them twice, so what I loved about it was them spreading the ball around so much, it made them un-defensable. Also, it fosters such an amazing team concept at Heights. The old story used to be, no one ever left Heights for a non-public school because Toal went there and it was like Switzerland, but I kind of more think that, hey, people just love playing at Heights and for Heights because they know if they put the time in they will get a shot.
Next on my list would be Scott Mahoney at Pompton Lakes, Chris Locurto at Northern Highlands (should we be talking about him more?) and Pat Tirico at Lodi. Geez, I could keep going, what about Vito Campanile? What about Dave Schuman at Pal Park/Leonia and the challenges to blend those two student groups? Remo? (no first name needed) I love what Ted Evans has done at Dumont this season.
But I guess I will stick with my five. I gotta say though, I think we are doing a slight injustice to some of the newer coaches in the area. It might be cool to talk about who could be on this list if we do this again in 5 years. We are examining a lot of guys on large bodies of work. I think there is a whole crop of good young coaches in the area too. Jeff DeVito from Garfield really impressed me this season, what about Wayne Demikoff at Wayne Hills, I know he’s going to be successful there. Joe Sabella has got Indian Hills going the right way, I think.
So it’s like we have a current list, an underrated list and a future list.
JIM: So, we agree on four of five, and we have Nielsen and DelCalzo as the fifth. Sounds like we stretched it to 6. That’s OK. All of them are highly deserving, and because I can go on with this forever (you still reading out there?), I’ll give you a few hints for the next two lists. For underrated, I’m big on Tribuzio. Ramsey is a school that for some reason gets raided by the non-publics, much like Northern Highlands (how much would Locurto love to have had Mark Fossati?), yet every year they turn out a respectable team. I know their junior program from my days with the North Jersey Junior Football League, and it churns out a ton of players. He has one title (2009) to his credit, and with a couple more good years added to his body of work, he will no longer be under the radar. Is Vito underrated? Hmmmm. I guess he qualifies because he isn’t part of a lot of conversations, but he has Westwood playing real well. I’ll be interested to see what happens next year when a lot of the guys from this season graduate (though Nolan Borgerson is around for one more year). If he pulls a Nielsen and reloads, then he gets props and jumps on the radar as well.
The futures list is a fun one. You never know if some of the guys caught lightning in a bottle or have the right stuff. DeVito is one to watch, as is Demikoff, who should benefit from getting distance from Chris Olsen. That was a huge shadow this year, and you know every time something went south the comparisons were being made. Now that he has a year under his belt and has been through the battle, he should be much better equipped to return the Patriots to their lofty status. Can we count Greg Grudzis of Waldwick/Midland Park in this list? He’s really got that co-op going and doing it with a bare-bones roster despite the combination of two schools.
DARREN: I think we will save those lists for another time…don’t you? Happy Thanksgiving to you my friend.
JIM: That’s fine, maybe on one of those cold winter nights when I’m not bouncing from hockey rink to hockey rink, which, by the way, begins Friday night. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and also to all of our 13,000 plus followers, including all of the pucksters who will be tuning in beginning this weekend.