Kevin Coleman named Woodbridge High School's head football coach
by WoodbridgeFootball.com / MyCentralJersey.com / NJ.com on 04/22/16
Greg Tufaro, @GregTufaro 9:45 p.m. Feb 18, 2016
Kevin
Coleman, who served as a defensive coordinator at Woodbridge the past
three seasons, was approved as the high school’s new head football coach
during the township’s board of education meeting on Thursday night.
Coleman succeeds highly respected veteran mentor Bill Nyers, who resigned in December.
“Coach
Coleman has served us very well as an assistant under Coach Nyers and
he’s earned this position,” Woodbridge Athletics Director Joe Ward said.
“We look forward to continued success under him.”
Coleman,
who plans to meet with the Barrons on Friday, inherits a team that
finished 6-4 last season while reaching the NJSIAA playoffs for a second
consecutive year.
He previously coached at Snyder, from which he graduated in 1993, as well as at Plainfield and Bishop Ahr high schools.
Coleman
starred at linebacker for Kean College in the early 1990s and led the
team in tackles while helping the Cougars capture an ECAC championship
in 1994. He currently teaches chemistry and special education at
Woodbridge.
“I
want to thank the board and the administration for the opportunity,”
Coleman said. “I’m going to work really hard. I want to make a statement
to make sure that they made the right choice. I’m going to be organized
and make sure I follow all the things I was taught from all the coaches
I worked for. I love the kids. I want to make sure the kids have an
opportunity to succeed in life.”
Nyers
coached the Barrons from 1994 to 2002, leading Woodbridge to a
sectional title in 1997 before being named Kean University’s offensive
coordinator, a post he held for six seasons prior to becoming the head
coach at Plainfield, where he spent two years with Coleman as his
assistant.
Nyers returned to Woodbridge in 2012, the same year Coleman served as an assistant coach at Bishop Ahr under Don Sofilkanich.
“He’s
one of the finest coaches I have ever worked with at any place,” Nyers
said of Coleman, who has been a special teams, defensive and offensive
coordinator.
“His
attention to detail and knowledge of the game is unsurpassed in all
phases. What I find is a perfect fit for Woodbridge is his no-nonsense
approach to discipline and his work ethic. No one is going to outwork
him.”
Nyers’
son Nick, a sophomore linebacker, is one of several returning starters
from a defense that scored five touchdowns on interception and fumble
returns and allowed a total of 26 points during a season-opening
four-game winning streak and that held five opponents to two or fewer
scores last year.
“I
would rather have nobody else coaching my kid in his final two years
than Coach Coleman,” Nyers said. “I know he’s going to hold him
accountable for his decisions, he’s not going to sugar-coat anything and
he’s going to get the best out of him.”
Nyers
and Coleman led Plainfield – which finished 2-8 prior to Nyers’ arrival
– to an NJSIAA playoff berth in 2010 and to a stunning 22-21
Thanksgiving Day upset of a Westfield (7-3) the following season.
Woodbridge
enjoyed a similar turnaround under Nyers and Coleman in 2014, snapping a
10-game losing streak that dated back to the previous season by winning
seven of the team’s final nine contests while advancing to the
sectional semifinals.
“I
think he’s a good young coach that will continue to maintain a program
that is hard-nosed and has been for years,” MyCentraljersey.com football
analyst Marcus Borden said of Coleman.
Woodbridge
will graduate starting quarterback Tracy Fudge, a first-team Home News
Tribune All-Area selection who passed for 1,499 yards and 17 touchdowns,
and star running back Nate Lanier.
“Offensively
we are going to miss some pieces,” Coleman said, "but I think we have
some young guys that are going to compete and step in.”
The
Barrons return Quaasim Glover, who led the Greater Middlesex Conference
with 723 receiving yards, and team-leading rusher Keshaun Henry, who
amassed 590 yards on the ground.
“As
an alum, I am so happy that my school picked such an outstanding
candidate for the head football job,” said Nyers, a 1984 Woodbridge
graduate. “The administration and the board (made) a top-notch
selection. I couldn’t be happier.”
“He’s
a great guy,” Sofilkanich said of Coleman. “This is a long time coming.
He deserves to be a head coach. He works hard at the game. He’s going
to do a great job.”
