Sayreville football coach reportedly fired
According to MyCentralJersey.com, the school district posted an advertisement Thursday morning seeking a new football coach. Head coach George Najjar has been suspended with pay since October.
From the website:“Today we took the next important step toward the 2015 football season,” Sayreville Schools Superintendent Rick Labbe said when asked about the job posting. “We are excited to launch a comprehensive search to find the next leader of our football program.”
Sayreville, which had a string of 20 consecutive NJSIAA playoff appearances snapped last season after Labbe shut down the program amid allegations of locker room misconduct, is widely regarded as one of the state’s most prestigious public school programs. The Bombers won three consecutive sectional titles from 2011-13.
Labbe announced during a board meeting last month that the football program has been reinstated. The status of Najjar as a tenured teacher at the high school remains uncertain.
Najjar carried a 165-54 record at Sayreville, where he was also the school’s strength and conditioning coach. Those responsibilities have since been handed to an assistant.
It’s not entirely shocking to see the school part ways with Najjar given the severity of the offenses that allegedly took place in his locker room. Some schools might choose to retain a Hall of Fame coach based on their achievements on the field, but that wasn’t the case here.
The Sayreville athletic director resigned last month and, as the article notes, Najjar supporters circulated a petition in an attempt to save the coach’s job.
All of the charged players have been suspended from school but none will be tried as adults, according to the article.