BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Ed Gurrieri
Continuity is the theme of Manalapan’s new head football coach Ed Gurrieri.
"We feel we’ve built a pretty good program here," he said. "I want to keep it going in the right direction."
Last fall, Manalapan reached the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship game for the first time in school history.
Head coach Tom Tarver resigned in June to accept the vice principal’s position at Jackson Memorial High School. For many programs, a coach leaving that late in the year could be a disaster, but Manalapan made the transition easy by elevating Gurrieri, who was not only the defensive coordinator, but more importantly, the assistant head coach to Tarver, as the Braves’ new head coach.
"I’m excited to be the head coach," said Gurrieri, who has been coaching either college or high school football since 1983. "I wanted to keep continuity with the kids. They don’t have to learn anything knew."
Outside of losing Tarver, the coaching staff will be unchanged. Gurrieri said that Joe Tetley will take over his position under Tarver as assistant head coach and Joe Vella will be the defensive coordinator.
For Gurrieri, who first started coaching in 1983 right out of Wagner College, where he was a fullback, this is the only head coaching position he wanted.
"This is my town and I take pride in the community," he pointed out. "This is my way of serving the community."
Gurrieri played high school football on Staten Island at Wagner High School and went on to carry the football for Wagner College under legendary Walt Hameline. Upon graduating, he was an assistant for Hameline in charge of running backs, starting in 1983. Except for two years (1987-89, when he was a police officer with the New York Police Department), Gurrieri has been coaching at either college or high school ever since. While he was a police officer (1989-92), he worked the midnight shift in the fall so that he could coach.
In 1997, he moved to Manalapan where, through a mutual friend, he hooked up with Steve Bush, then the head coach at Manalapan. He joined Bush’s staff that fall. When Bush left to become an assistant at Syracuse, Tarver moved up to head coach with Gurrieri becoming the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
He was more than ready when opportunity knocked.
"Like any coach, being a head coach is always on your mind," he said.
It wasn’t until Gurrieri started his own business as an appraiser that time was on his side.
"There were time constraints before," he explained. "Now I make my own hours."
One of the most important players returning from Manalapan’s historic playoff run last year is Gurrieri’s son, Eddie Gurrieri.
It was Gurrieri’s break-away running that kicked Manalapan’s offense in gear last year, leading them to upsets of Brick and Old Bridge on the way to the state sectional final. The senior-to-be ran for 1,023 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
The new head coach said that he and his son had discussed the promotion before the elder Gurrieri took the position."We spoke about it and he said it would be great," said Gurrieri.
Having been on the Braves’ coaching staff all the while that Eddie Gurrieri has played for Manalapan, they’ve experienced the father-son, coach-player relationship.
"I told him that I don’t want anyone in this town to think you had anything handed to you," said the elder Gurrieri. "You have to work that much harder.
"He’s earned what he’s gotten," he added. "He’s been treated like everyone else."
In his more than 20 years of coaching experience, Gurrieri has taken a little something from each head coach he served under — from Hameline, to Wagner High’s Al Paturzo, to Bush and Tarver.
"Coach Hameline ran the team like a corporation," he pointed out. "He delegated authority and gave everyone responsibilities. You cannot do it all by yourself. You have to have organizational skills.
"Coach Paturzo was an old-fashioned Vince Lombardi type," he added. "His teams were going to be in better shape and play tougher mentally than the other team."
From Bush (who is now an assistant coach in charge of defensive backs at Syracuse University) and Tarver, he picked up off facets of coaching.
"Steve was one of the best game-day thinkers and managers I’ve ever seen," Gurrieri noted. "He won with less talent.
"Tom and I were assistants together and we hit it off," he added. "He brought an enthusiasm for the game like no one I have seen. I want to keep that part, the enthusiasm in practice and games."
With continuity his top priority, Gurrieri will stick with what has made Manalapan a winning program over the years. They will run the ball and throw deep to keep teams off balance, and the Braves will be an aggressive, hard-hitting defense that attacks teams.
Gurrieri’s goal for Manalapan is to be recognized with the Bricks, Middletown Souths, Matawans and Toms Rivers as premier programs in the Shore area.
"I want this team to be known as one of the best in the Shore Conference," he said. "To get there, you have to earn it. You have to have consistency."
The Braves are on the way there and if Gurrieri has his way, they will arrive shortly.