Not everyone on Steinfeld interview committee opposed East Brunswick coach getting rehired

When then-East Brunswick football coach Andy Steinfeld re-interviewed for his job in July, three “community members” were on the interview committee, but not all of them opposed the coach’s rehiring.

Multiple sources have told Central Jersey Sports Radio that those members included St. Bart’s Buffalos president Chad Seyler and treasurer Dave Lonski, as well as Vito Tropeano, Sr., whose son played quarterback for East Brunswick.

And reached this week after the names had been revealed to CJSR, Steinfeld says Tropeano was the only one of the three who had anything positive to say.

“He was pro-Andy Steinfeld,” the coach said this week. “He thanked me for what he did for his kid.”

Vito Tropeano, Jr., was in the East Brunswick program, then transferred to Elizabeth for his junior year, but came back to the Bears for his senior season, throwing for over 1,700 yards with 17 touchdowns. Steinfeld says he was able to help him draw interest from Wagner College on Staten Island, to which Tropeano signed a National Letter of Intent back in February.

Reached this week by Central Jersey Sports Radio, Tropeano – like Seyler, who we reached out to in July – said he couldn’t discuss the meeting, as he had signed a confidentiality agreement. But he did say he and his son had nothing but good experiences with Steinfeld, and confirmed the coach’s statement that he appreciated all Steinfeld had done for them.

Tropeano also was once involved in St. Bart’s youth sports programs, but hasn’t been for the last several years. But he was involved with their 2018 American Youth Football 12U national championship team. He saw himself as perhaps a bridge between the district and St. Bart’s, where Seyler had previously had conversations with the East Brunswick district about working together on the middle school football program.

Indeed, at a June 2022 Board of Education meeting, Seyler spoke during the public comment period, and said he had approached school officials three or four years prior to discuss a working agreement between the programs, but “nothing has ever came from that.” He said that in the immediate aftermath, there had been “zero communication” between the East Brunswick program and St. Bart’s about the issue.

Steinfeld was not rehired in late July, when all his other assistants were approved by the Board of Ed. Told he would have to re-interview for his position, soon after that interview he was told there were not enough votes to approve his hiring, though no vote was ever held.

Offensive Coordinator Matt Pazinko was named Interim Head Coach for the season.