John Fiore, former Montclair football coach, to make sideline return at Elizabeth – nj.com

John Fiore can see the parallels between his last coaching assignment and the one he’s set to inherit.

And if the new one is anything like the last, New Jersey’s gridiron community should take notice.

Elizabeth’s Board of Education formally approved Fiore to become the Union County school’s next football coach Thursday night, and the proven program builder, who mosty recently restore Montclair’s football tradition, says he’s rejuvenated to take on a new challenge.

“I’m jacked up. I’m excited, and I feel like I’m 35 years old again,” said Fiore, 53, who will be making his fifth coaching stop after previous stints at Montclair, Spotswood, Marlboro and his alma mater, Neptune.

After leading Montclair to four sectional titles and seven championship appearances in 11 seasons, Fiore took a leave of absence this fall to deal with a delicate family situation. When the opening at Elizabeth opened up, Fiore said it was an opportunity he couldn’t miss.

“After interviewing there, I knew I felt comfortable,” Fiore said.

As for the year away from coaching, Fiore said he needed to be around for his two children.

“Everybody looks into things thinking there’s more to it than what’s being said in the paper,” Fiore said. “In this case, I had to be with my family. Some things happened, and I wanted to be there for my kids.”

“My intent was to come back to Montclair High but an opportunity presented itself at Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth athletic director Ben Candelino said the district succeeded in finding the best candidate after interviewing what he called the “best group of candidates” possible.

“We got an experienced and proven winner,” Candelino said. “Everywhere he’s gone, he’s turned his program around. We think we got one of the top coaches in the state and a coach who fits into the Elizabeth community.”

Fiore, a Cranford resident, plans on resigning from his teaching position in Montclair. Administration changes played into that decision, he said.

When he was hired at the Essex County school in 2010, Fiore leaned on two former administrators who moved into leadership roles in the district after successful coaching career. One was John Porcelli, the school’s athletic director. The other was James Earle, school’s principal.

Earle’s son, Tarrin, played quarterback for Montclair’s team in 2017, one of three Montclair squads that finished undefeated under Fiore’s guidance.

Since then, Porcelli retired and Earle moved on to become a superintendent in the Trenton school district.

“We have some great people in place, but it’s not the same place as when I was hired,” Fiore said. “When I was hired, there were real football guys in the administration who got what a head coach goes through.”

In his 11 seasons at Montclair, Fiore guided the Mounties to an overall record of 93-31, including a 35-1 mark from 2012-2014. His teams won four sectional titles and reached the championship game seven times.

Fiore’s teams reached the playoffs every year except 2020 when the postseason was wiped out by the pandemic. Even more impressive, Montclair won at least one playoff game in nine of its 10 postseason appearances in the Fiore era.

With Pete Ramiccio replacing Fiore last fall as the team’s interim coach, Montclair finished 5-5 and lost to a triple overtime game to Passaic Tech in the first round of the playoffs.

Off the field, Fiore built Montclair as an attractive pipeline for college coaches and kept many of Montclair’s best athletes at home. Some of Montclair’s top college prospects signed scholarships to Ohio State, Boston College, Rutgers and other Power 5 schools during Fiore’s tenure, including Josh Allen — a current NFL standout.

After Allen returned to Montclair for his senior season, Fiore lobbied dozens of schools to take a chance on the budding All-State pass rusher, who led the state in sacks. Only Monmouth and the University of Kentucky listened.

Allen then blossomed into an All-American with the Wildcats and became an instant sensation in the NFL as a first-round draft pick and All-Pro player for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Allen’s recruitment, or lack thereof, was another testament to Fiore’s commitment to his student-athletes. When asked about his coaching strengths, Fiore said “I don’t deviate from implementing the culture needed to win” and “he empowers his student-athletes”.

“It’s about holding kids accountable and holding assistants accountable,” Fiore added.

Like Montclair, Elizabeth has a long and storied history. The 2012 team, led by then-head coach John Quinn and standout quarterback P.J. Walker, won the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 championship and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the state in The Star-Ledger Top 20.

The team has struggled recently, however. Despite the largest public-school enrollment, Elizabeth has finished below .500 in five of the last six seasons. Coach Jamil Jackson’s teams did, however, win a playoff game in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017.

After finishing 3-7 this fall, the former Elizabeth standout and Rutgers football player resigned for a “variety of personal reasons,” Candelino said.

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Patrick Lanni may be reached at planni@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatLanniHS and like his Facebook page.