Chad Seyler – one of the three “community members” on the panel that re-interviewed Andy Steinfeld, who was eventually let go as head coach just two weeks before camp in late July of this year – is no stranger to East Brunswick school officials.

In fact, he sat on the Board of Education for one term, serving from 2017 through 2019. But once he was no longer on the board, he continued to be involved, particularly on the issue of the football program.

Steinfeld added seventh-graders to the middle school football program for the 2022 season, as a reshuffling of students and schools in the district had just added seventh graders to Churchill Middle School, where it was previously all eighth graders. It now houses students in grades seven through nine.

Seyler made his first public complaints about the expanded middle school football program known to East Brunswick school administrators at the time, but that’s also when he revealed publicly he had been working behind the scenes to affect change with the football program for several years already.

Seyler spoke during the public comment period at a June 2, 2022 Board of Education meeting, which is available on the East Brunswick school district’s YouTube channel.

During his allotted time 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.

He added that he had later met with Superintendent Dr. Victor Valeski and Board of Education President Laurie Lachs about “possibly taking over” the eighth grade program. “That meeting went nowhere,” he said, adding there was initially “no mention” of seventh-graders at Churchill school joining the middle school program.

But after discovering that was indeed the case, Seyler said he presented Dr. Valeski with a Power Point presentation on how “East Brunswick would be better served with St. Bart’s Buffaloes than an eighth or seventh grade program at Churchill.” He said the presentation outlined that St. Bart’s had “better equipment, our fields, our coach ratio, and the safety of the program overall.”

He also mentioned – without specifying who – that the spouse of one Board of Ed member had been pushing for safety in football, and “did not want his child playing up a year with anybody.” Seyler then said it was now “interesting” that seventh-graders would be allowed to play with kids who were bigger and a year older – maybe even two, if they reclassified.

By then, the three-minute time limit ran out, at which point Seyler said “That’s a shame.” He indicated he had quotes from parents he wanted to share. When told by the Board his time was up, and he would not be able to finish, he indicated he would send that information to the Board separately, then complained further about the time restriction, and walked away.

Video from the June 2, 2022 meeting is on the district’s YouTube page, and Seyler begins speaking just after the 44-minute mark.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have told Central Jersey Sports Radio that Seyler – along with St. Bart’s Buffalos treasurer Dave Lonski and Vito Tropeano, Sr., whose son played at East Brunswick transferred to Elizabeth for 2023, then came back for his senior year – were on the committee that re-interviewed Steinfeld for the his position, after the Board of Ed tabled a vote on his re-hiring at its July meeting.

Seyler, when reached for comment in July, said he could not speak about the issue, as he had signed a confidentiality agreement.

Soon after the interview, Steinfeld says he was told by Athletic Director Frank Malta that there weren’t enough votes on the board to approve his hiring. He was let go, and Offensive Coordinator Matt Pazinko was named Interim Head Coach.

Six months after the January meeting, Seyler was back before the Board of Education again, this time in December, running down a laundry list of complaints:

• Seyler said there were 55 seventh- and eighth-graders at Churchill Middle School “interested” in football, but says there were 34 by the season finale, and that he had only 29 with the St. Bart’s Buffalos.
• He noted that the middle school team played five regular season games, while his St. Bart’s program played one preseason game, eight regular season contests, and two playoff games.
• He also decried how Churchill kids had to bus to the high school and play on “whatever field they could find” while St. Bart’s plays on the township’s turf field at Heavenly Farms. He further griped that East Brunswick’s games were played on a grass field – “if you could call it that,” he told the Board – then said teams were often late coming to and going to games, and complained about there being a running clock during some contests.
• He says the East Brunswick middle school program had three coaches, while St. Bart’s had seven.
• Seyler complained about new helmets bought for the middle school team, and how high school players were upset that they didn’t get new gear, further saying the East Brunswick program had older shoulder pads that made the kids look like they were in “a Carol Burnett skit.”
• Seyler further took issue with playing time, noting that eighth graders had more playing time and some barely saw ten plays all year, while the Buffalos had a ten-play minimum in each game for all players. He said two players barely saw any action and “they’re coming to me next year. Good job.”

That meeting also is viewable on YouTube, with Seyler’s comments beginning around the 44-minute mark.

What Seyler didn’t point out is that playing on the East Brunswick middle school team costs a relatively reasonable $50, while the Buffalos have a $275 registration fee. They require an additional $100 for “Booster Cards,” a fundraising effort, that must be paid upfront, per a checklist available on the program’s website. There’s also a $150 work bond and $350 equipment fee, both of which are returned if a family member helps out at games, or when equipment is returned, also on the publicly available checklist.

Potentially, that could cost a family $875 in a season if they don’t complete the work, sell cards for the fundraiser, or keep the equipment.

And still, almost none of those issues Seyler did mention would be things the head football coach had control over. Middle school teams simply play other schools, not Pop Warner or other youth leagues. Fields would also be at the discretion of the district and administrators, both building them and assigning them. Coaches are hired based on the money made available by the district. Equipment is purchased when money is available.

About the only thing on the laundry list of complaints from Seyler that would be up to the coaching staff of the middle school team would be playing time, but school teams don’t have minimum playing time requirements, while some youth leagues do.