In just two seasons, a little more than a third of the Big Central head coaching positions have turned over, some for the second time in as many years. And both head coaches who won state titles this year are off for new adventures: Edison’s Matt Fulham retired after 18 years, and North Hunterdon’s Kevin Kley stepped aside with he and his wife about to become new parents.
But this year was a relatively low number, with ten new head coaches coming into the league this year – compared with 14 in 2022 – with one more back for his first full season.
Let’s start with that one, where Matt Bloom will coach his first full year at Somerville. Bloom was the offensive line coach last year, and the lone holdover from the Jeff Vanderbeek/Dallas Whitaker era, which brought a state championship in 2017 and went 57-8 in six seasons after losing 25 straight in a streak that stretched through four seasons.
READ MORE: Somerville’s Bloom officially appointed full-time football coach
Bloom became the head coach when Ian Pace – in his first season coming from St. John Fisher College – was pushed to the sideline for a reason never publicly disclosed, and led the Pioneers in their last two regular season games, notching two wins and making the playoffs, where they lost in the first round.
Bringing back some of the vibe of the previous coaching era, and the program’s accountability, expect Somerville to make more noise this year.
Bridgewater-Raritan: DJ Catalano
It’ll be the second new coach in two seasons for the Panthers, who saw Hillsborough native and favorite son Rick Mantz take over for Scott Bray in 2022. Mantz had health issues that forced him to step away from the grind shortly after the season, and Catalano was quickly elevated to interim head coach, then officially hired by new Athletic Director Bill Deniz.
Catalano played at Montgomery, coached at Rutgers, Bridgewater, and at Somerville with Dallas Whitaker, and will be a younger coach to connect with the Panther program, around which there’s always been a lot of excitement with a rabid student fan base.
Brearley: Allen Phillips
Phillips has some big shoes to fill in longtime coach Scott Miller, the longest-tenured coach of any of the departures this off-season, by far.
Miller – who remains the Athletic Director at the Kenilworth high school – was 139-63-1 in 21 seasons with the Bears, including a state title in 2006, and most recently made a run last year to the sectional finals, finishing 10-1 with the lone loss to Mountain Lakes, 16-6, in the North 1, Group 1 final.
Phillips was a standout for Miller, who eventually went on to play at Montclair State – his final season was 2014 – and coach there.
Delaware Valley: Ben Ibach
Ibach played his scholastic and collegiate ball in Pennsylvania, a graduate of Lock Haven University, but is another “hire from within” and Del Val isn’t his first stop in Jersey either.
He worked under Matt Perotti at Hunterdon Central when they had the dynamic duo of seniors Mike Knight at quarterback and future NFLer Jason Cabinda at runningback and linebacker, winning a state title in 2013.
He’s been in Alexandria since 2017, working under Mike Haughey, who was in his second year at Del Val at the time.
Haughey had been an assistant under Mike Columbo, then was promoted to head coach in 2016, going going 41-25 in a seven-year span, with his best seasons coming in the last two, going 7-3 in 2021 and 2022.
Haughey gave up the football job – as well as the girls basketball post – to focus on teaching kindergarten in the district, a job whose schedule conflicted with being a head coach of two sports.
Edison: Matt Yascko
Yascko is not new to the league, not by a longshot. For the past three years, he’s been the offensive coordinator at Edison under Matt Fulham, who retired after 18 seasons, an 80-100-1 record, and a sectional title last season, the first for the Eagles since 1991. He was the second-longest tenured coach to depart after 2022, behind Scott Miller at Brearley
But Yascko – who played on that ’91 team – was there to coach his son, who’s also named Matt, and now graduated, off to play at Fairleigh Dickinson. The younger Yascko was thrown into the fire as a starter his freshman year, and his father came over from Carteret for his sophomore season.
Yascko was an assistant under Bob Molarz at Carteret, and eventually took over for him, coaching 14 seasons, going 82-67 and reaching three state finals, winning titles in 2007 and 2012.
JP Stevens: Jason Goerge
When Joe Goerge – who had won championships at Franklin – took the reins at tiny Dayton regional in Springfield, he was starting completely from scratch. His sons, Jason and Michael, were with him for the ride.
Whatever Jason learned from the experience will come in handy in North Edison, where JP Stevens has not won a football game since 2018, when the Hawks beat Monroe in late October.
READ MORE: Jason Goerge, son of legendary coach Joe, takes the reins at JP Stevens
It might as well be like starting the program from scratch, which can only be a good thing. Goerge will have to build up the numbers and instill a culture. Winning just one football game would be a major accomplishment for the program, which for a while had been getting the better of Edison in their annual Thanksgiving rivalry, and was a powerhouse in the late 1970s and 1980s, but won its last state title 22 years ago.
Manville: David Markowitch
The Mustangs are replacing the third-most tenured coach to leave the Big Central this year, in Pat Gorbatuk, who left football after 12 seasons and a 40-72 record, as well as an even longer run as wrestling coach. Gorbatuck is a coach who’s impact in the tiny town where he grew up can be measured by more than the wins and losses, but the impact he left on the program.
Luckily, a loss for Manville football and wrestling isn’t quite a loss, and everyone’s gain: Gorbatuk stays in the district, having been promoted to Athletic Director.
READ MORE: Manville football, wrestling coach Pat Gorbatuk promoted to Athletic Director
Not only that, but he made the call to promote from within, handing off the rains to Dave Markowitch, who most recently had been Gorbatuk’s special teams coordinator for the past eight seasons.
READ MORE: Gorbatuk classmate, longtime assistant Markowitch keeps continuity at Manville
It may be his first head coaching job, but Markowitch and Gorbatuk went to Manville High School together, with Markowitch graduating in 1999, and Gorbatuk the year after. So he’s well-versed in the program and the community.
Monroe: Nick Isola
The Monroe product went on to play wide receiver and tight end at Widener comes back to coach at his alma mater, replacing Dan Lee, who spent eight seasons with the Falcons, going 23-50 after taking the reins from Chris Beagan, who left after the 2014 season to coach at his alma mater Sayreville, and just retired.
Isola played for Beagan, and was the team’s top receiver on a 3-7 squad in his senior season of 2012, so it’s another homegrown talent coming back to lead his alma mater.
New Brunswick: Steve Gluchowski
Zebras’ Alum Nate Harris – a member of the 2003 title team and standout at Rutgers – had a tough five-year run in New Brunswick, going 10-34 in that stretch, with his best year a 4-6 season in 2021.
Next up is Steve Gluchowski, a 1994 Sayreville grad who played for Sal Mistretta, adding to the legendary skipper’s coaching tree.
It’s the first head-coaching job for the 46-year-old Gluchowski, who spent the past two years helping Chris Meagher turn around Spotswood, most notably by increasing participation in the program, a similar challenge to that which he’ll face in the Hub City.
North Hunterdon: CJ Robinson
Robinson takes over for Kevin Kley, who was the head coach for just four seasons, and was 24-26, but won the North 2, Group 4 title last year, going 11-2, falling in the Group 4 semis to Northern Highlands.
Robinson will be without a stellar senior class, with players like Kente Edwards, Alex Uryniak, Danny Delusant, Luke Martini and Derek Vaddis; only one starter on either side of the ball wasn’t a senior last year.
But the Lions’ success has been cyclical over the years. Kley’s team was 2-5 in 2020 and 5-5 in 2021, but went 11-1 and won a title in 2017 under Jared Mazzetta.
Sayreville: Don Soflikanich
A familiar name in Middlesex County, Soflikanich was instrumental as a coordinator in New Brunswick under John Quinn in the Zebras’ state title runs in 2003 and 2006, running the defense and offense, respectively, for those squads.
He later won a title at Asbury Park, coached at Neptune, and also at Bishop Ahr before becoming head coach in New Brunswick. Now, he’s with the Bombers, and it’s technically another promote-from-within scenario since he was a volunteer assistant this past season under Chris Beagan, who retired from his alma mater after last season – along with his wife, Laurie, a teacher in Sayreville – with a pair of state titles to his credit, after resurrecting the program following a hazing scandal.
READ MORE: Don Sofilkanch talks “great opportunity” and “tremendous culture” at Sayreville
Sofilkanich takes over a Sayreville squad that has loses some key pieces, but returns Zaimer Wright at runningback. A lot will depend on whether he can return to the form of his freshman season, in which he rushed for 1,403 yards and 25 touchdowns, and was the top returning runningback in the Big Central Conference in 2022.
But Wright was limited last year by injury to just three games worth of action, and only totalled 392 yards and two touchdowns on 48 carries.
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