MIDDLETOWN — Administrators at Mater Dei Prep have appointed Justin Fumando as the school’s new head varsity football coach.
Fumando graduated from Kean University, Union, where he was a member of the varsity
football team and earned the team’s Ironman Award, according to an April 28 press release from the school.
He was named the Shore Conference A South Division Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017 while serving as the head coach at Central Regional High School in Bayville.
Fumando was a member of the Professional Indoor Football Teams Trenton Steel (SIFL) and New Jersey Revolution (CIFL).
He has been employed with the Howell K-8 School District for five years and comes to Mater Dei Prep with an extensive coaching background, according to the press release.
“This is going to be a process. Every step of the process will be more important than the result. I am extremely honored and humbled by this opportunity and excited to start,” Fumando said.
Fumando spent the 2021 football season as an assistant coach at John F. Kennedy High School in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.
Before that, he was the head coach at Central Regional High School for four years. He spent a total of eight years as a defensive coordinator at St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel, and at Manalapan High School.
Fumando is a certified strength and conditioning coach and is a member of the American Football Coaches Association. He graduated from Middletown North High School in 2000 where he played football under former coach Mike Galos.
“Justin brings a wealth of football knowledge and experience as well as possessing high character leadership abilities that will serve our student-athletes for years to come,” Mater Dei Prep Athletic Director Rich Buckheit said.
According to a previous press release from the school, Mater Dei Prep did not field a varsity football team in 2021.
The school fielded a junior varsity team in 2021 that played a six-game schedule and built a strong foundation for the future, according to Buckheit, who said the student-athletes who played on that team will move up to the varsity level.