Belleville High School hasn’t enjoyed a winning season over 20 years. The last season that had even a hint of success was in 2007, when Joe Fischer guided the Buccaneers to a 5-5 record and the school’s last berth in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV playoffs.
In those 10 years since qualifying for the state playoffs, Belleville has gone a combined 23-77.
There’s been a parade of coaches to come through the Belleville football door and then leave. Eight men have come and gone over the last 20 years.
Mario Cuniglio was the last to hold the position and resigned after just two seasons, posting a 1-9 record last fall.
So why would anyone want to be the head coach at Belleville?
Enter Jermain Johnson. The 45-year-old native of Bloomfield was hired last week as the new head football coach at Belleville and he’s determined to do what so many others have failed to do since the legendary John Senesky was unceremoniously removed from the position two decades ago.
Plain and simple, Johnson expects to win. Not right away, mind you, but someday in the near foreseeable future.
“I wasn’t looking at Belleville at all,” said Johnson, who played football at Bloomfield, then Montclair State and later professionally with the New Jersey Red Dogs of the Arena Football League. “But the right people talked to me and I became interested. It was like coming back home. All the right pieces seemed to just fit. I’m ecstatic and excited to be here.”
Johnson has an excellent coaching pedigree. He was the head coach at Paterson Eastside for three seasons, then went to Wayne Hills and became the defensive coordinator for the Patriots, where he has remained for the past five seasons and helped the Patriots capture the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group III championship two years ago.
Johnson also spent some time as an assistant coach at Montclair State under his college coach Rick Giancola.
Johnson said that he met with Belleville athletic director Marcellino Marra a few weeks ago to discuss the position.
“Everything passed the eyeball test,” Johnson said. “I hung out there for a bit and liked what I saw.”
Johnson said that he met with some of the players and that was the main selling point.
“The kids are hungry,” Johnson said. “They’re tired of losing. They are very serious about turning things around.”
Johnson said that he talked about the position with his high school coach, the legendary Chet Parlavecchio, as well as current Bloomfield coach Mike Carter and Montclair State coach Giancola.
“They are my inspirations in this business,” Johnson said. “These are the guys that I go to whenever I need someone to talk to. They are all big advocates of me taking this job.”
Johnson said that he got an immediate positive vibe when meeting with the players.
“A lot of the kids told me that they’re on board and ready to work,” Johnson said. “They’re making the commitment. I told them that I was going to treat them like they’re men.”
Johnson said that he talked to other people before agreeing to taking over.
“A lot of people asked me if I was crazy,” Johnson said. “But I’m telling everyone up front that I’m excited.”
Johnson said in meeting with the players, he expressed what he wanted to have done.
“I let them know right up front what I demand from them,” Johnson said. “I told them what I expect from them. If I have to be at their houses to make sure that they’re eligible to play, then that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to make men out of them. I bring the type of discipline that they need. I know that’s what they want, but it’s also what they need and that reflects on the field.”
The Buccaneers had a nightmare season last fall, losing their last seven games by a combined score of 313-21, including the horrific 84-0 setback to Irvington that sent shockwaves through the entire New Jersey high school football community.
Johnson vows that there will never be a score like the one against Irvington ever again _ nor should there be.
“A lot of things have to happen,” Johnson said. “But the first will be to change the mentality of the weight lifting program. I think seasons are won and lost in the weight room. I think that has to be embedded into their brains.”
Johnson also will change the team’s philosophy beginning this fall.
“We’re going to be a smash mouth football team,” Johnson said. “We’re going to line up and try to run the ball down your throats. With the people I see, I think it can happen. Now, I just have to get those kids into the weight room. Everyone in football is trying to throw the ball all over. But if you watch the best college football team, Alabama, what are they playing? They aren’t throwing the ball all over.”
Johnson also wants to emphasize speed and agility.
“But that also begins in the weight room,” Johnson said of the speed drills.
Marra was pleased with the hiring of Johnson.
“We had over 50 applicants for the job,” Marra said. “We had to choose the person who was the best fit, who the kids would respond to the most and who knows what it takes. Coach Johnson had all the right answers to our questions. He was a college coach. He was a high school coach who won championships. For me, it was an easy fit. He is so positive and he believes that we can win. I think that attitude will trickle down to the kids.”
Marra said that he was sold on Johnson during the interview process.
“When he came in for the interview, it was like I was talking to a coach who knows what he’s talking about,” Marra said. “He wants to be successful. He has that ‘refuse-to-lose’ attitude. He wants to build a successful program. I think getting him was the right piece to the big puzzle. He’s committed to what he wants to do. I think we all feel confident with Coach Johnson. He is trying to change the culture of the program. He wants to be part of our family for a long time.”
Marra addressed the fact that Belleville has had so many head football coaches since Senesky left in 1996.
“I think we’re building a team, a program,” Marra said. “It’s an exciting time for us. He’s a well respected coach in the football community. He wants to be here and wants to be here for a long time. I think everyone has nothing but respect for him. The feedback has been positive throughout the state.”
Johnson knows that he has his work cut out for him.
“This is not going to be a walk in the park,” Johnson said. “I know that. We need to get all hands on deck. This is not like what they had before. We’re all going to march to a different beat.”
Johnson said that he’s in the process of building his coaching staff.
“We’re going to bring in people who have winning ways,” Johnson said. “We need to establish a set of fundamentals and go from there.”
Johnson said that he also plans on working with the coaches in the Belleville Recreation Department to develop a feeder system for the high school.
“We all have to work together to make this work,” Johnson said. “I will make sure that my coaching staff gives clinics to work with the kids. Believe me, this is going to be interesting.”
Sure sounds that way. Now it’s up to Jermain Johnson to prove to everyone that Belleville can actually win in football and not be a laughingstock, like the Buccaneers have been for so very long.
CAPTION
Belleville High School has a new head football coach in Jermain Johnson, a Bloomfield native who played at Bloomfield and Montclair State before becoming a head coach at Paterson Eastside and a successful assistant at Wayne Hills for the last five seasons. Photo courtesy of Jermain Johnson
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”