A familiar family name to the Jersey football community will be the next head coach at Linden, as Mark Ciccotelli was approved as the Tigers’ next football coach by the Board of Education Thursday night.
Ciccotelli replaces Al Chiola, who stepped down in April after ten years running the program, where he also was an assistant and won a North 2, Group 5 state title with the program in 2014.
And titles and winning are no stranger to Ciccotelli – or his family.
This is the sixth coaching stop for Ciccotelli, whose brothers Mike and Steve also have been successful coaches in the Garden State. Mark’s most recent stint as a head coach was spent at Scotch Plains-Fanwood in 2017 and 2018, where he was 2-17 in two seasons after a 3-7 year at North Plainfield in 2016.
Other stops include a year at St. John Vianney in Holmdel in 2014, and the Lancers went 10-1 that year, falling to top-seed and eventual Non-Public Group 3 champion Delbarton in the sectional semifinals.
Ciccotelli also was at Neptune from 2011 through 2013 – going 25-9 with a CJ3 title his first season. Before that, a run at Freehold Boro from 2004 through 2010 saw the Colonials go 44-30, winning Central Jersey Group 3 in 2008 and 2010. He also coached at Rahway in 2002. Overall, in 15 seasons as a head coach, he has an 87-71 record.
