Ciccotelli has coaching in his blood
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Mark Ciccotelli has been on the other side of the gridiron against Freehold Borough High School and gained a healthy respect for the way the Colonials battle.

That’s why earlier this year when Freehold Borough head coach Larry Boice resigned, Ciccotelli, the head coach at Rahway, jumped at the opportunity to be the program’s new mentor.

“This is a great place to coach,” he said. “I had a fond respect for the school from playing against them. I remember when they beat us [Keypor]) in ’99. I always said to myself if that job ever opened up I’d like to give it shot.”

That chance came this spring when the position became vacant and Ciccotelli became the newest head football coach at Freehold Borough.

“I’m very happy,” he pointed out. “We’re on the move here. We have good kids. The parents are doing a great job with them.

“I was very impressed the first time I saw the kids,” he added. “They were respectful, polite and courteous young men.”

Ciccotelli comes from a long line of coaches in the family that began with his father Salvatore (long time coach of Union), brother Mike (head coach at Keyport) and Steve (head coach at Scotch Plains). Mark has been on the coaching staff of both his brothers prior to becoming the head coach at Rahway the past two years.

“Coaching is in the family, it’s what we do,” said Ciccotelli. “My father was a coach. It wasn’t forced on to me. I love every minute of it [coaching]. I enjoy working with young men and teaching them the right direction in life as well as football.”

To Ciccotelli, who played college football at then Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) football more than any other sport, is one in which everyone relies on everyone else. It is the essence of teamwork. He

likes to use the analogy of “hold the rope” to describe how dependent everyone is on each other.

“I told the kids its like holding onto the rope when your teammate is hanging over a the cliff, will you hold the rope through the rope burns and physical stress?”

Adding to Ciccotelli’s desire to coach the Colonials is his preference for Shore area football.

“Shore Conference football, I think, is the best in the state,” he said. “I had my heart set on coming back here.”

Freehold Borough has been feast or famine in the last few years, enjoying two division titles and a state playoff appearance sandwiched around less then stellar campaigns, including last year’s 3-7 season in which the Colonials dropped their last six games. Ciccotelli’s goal is to keep the team on a more even keel.

“I want to try and build consistency and be successful year-in and year-out,” he said.

For starters, he wants to put the 2003 campaign as far behind the Colonials as they can put it.

“We’re going to try and not reflect on last year,” he said. “Just block it out.

“We have some athletes here and we want to get them to believe in themselves and not be in awe of the other programs,” he added.

Ciccotelli will bring aggressive football to both sides of the ball.

“Offensively we want to be able to take what the defense gives and try and score,” he explained. “We’ll take shots down the field.

“Defensively, we’ll play an attacking, multiple-style defense,” he added. “We’re looking to attack and dictate the game.”

Ciccotelli has one simple request for his players — “all we ask is that they give their best effort.”

Freehold Borough’s new head coach is off to a good start with more than 60 players coming out for the varsity. That is a huge number by Borough standards.

The Ciccotelli era begins in earnest Saturday at home (1 p.m.) against the Raritan Rockets.