Germano steps down as St. Thomas Aquinas football coach before coaching a game; replacement to be named soon

Without even coaching a single practice or game, Jonathan Germano has stepped aside as head football coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, according to multiple sources.

In a message sent to the school community and obtained by Central Jersey Sports Radio, Principal Harry Ziegler said Germano “has chosen not to serve” as coach for the coming school year, and that “in the spirit of our rich athletic tradition, we will be announcing our new head coach in the coming days.”

No reason was given for the departure, and attempts to reach both Germano and Athletic Director Jerry Smith were unsuccessful Thursday evening.

As such, it’s unclear whether any of his assistants will be promoted at this late date, or of the school will look elsewhere.

Germano was hired in late January away from powerhouse Bergen Catholic, where he was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Crusaders, and was a standout quarterback as well. He led Bergen Catholic to back-to-back state title games in 2011 and 2012, his junior and senior years, and in 2012 was New Jersey Gatorade Player of the year.

He played his collegiate ball at Johns Hopkins University, and has also served as an assistant in college at Syracuse and Nebraska.

On January 10th, St. Thomas chose not to bring back Tarig Holman, who had an unprecedented run in three seasons, going 27-6. He came on board from JFK after the sudden passing of Brian Meeney in the spring of 2001, and continued the success that Meeney had built.

Following Meeney’s 9-1 team in 2020, Holman had the Trojans go 9-2 in 2021, 10-1 in 2023, and 8-3 this past season with a playoff win, the program’s first since 2001.

Aquinas has not lost a single game to a Big Central Conference opponent since Meeney was coach. They have won 31 straight against the Big Central, with their last loss coming to in 2020 to Bernards, which, ironically, has the league’s second longest win streak against conference opponents, now at 23 games.

The school did not give a reason for letting Holman go, declining to comment on personnel decisions when reached by Central Jersey Sports Radio.