Penns Grove pick

Former Glassboro HC, Penns Grove DC Maccarone said to be Red Devils’ choice for next head football coach

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Mark Maccarone never ruled out being a head coach again when he stepped away in 2017 and now that window appears to be open for him.

Penns Grove is working toward bringing former Glassboro head coach on as its next head football coach, Riverview Sports News has learned. 

Any hire, of course, is pending board approval. Maccarone declined to comment on the matter and Penns Grove athletics director Anwar Golden said an announcement on the next coach will be made March 11, which just happens to be the date of the next scheduled board meeting. 

The match is gaining traction in South Jersey high school football circles.

Maccarone certainly checks all the boxes. He has been a head coach. He has been in big games. He has won championships and coached players who’ve gone on to the NFL. He knows the Penns Grove players and the expectations the administration and community have for their football team.

He made five straight playoff appearances with Glassboro, winning two South Jersey Group I titles and reaching the semifinals two other times.

After Maccarone stepped down from the Bulldogs after seven years of commuting between Bridgeton and the school, former Penns Grove coach John Emel scarfed him up to be the Red Devils’ defensive coordinator during their 2018-19 championship run and he has helped with the program in a less formal capacity post-COVID.

“I think Mark is a heck of a football coach,” Emel, now the head coach at West Deptford, said in a general context about Maccarone’s experience. “I’ve competed against him as an assistant coach, competed against him as a head coach and coached with him for the best two-year stretch in school history.

“After 2017 when we lost I wanted to find an assistant coach with big-game experience. One of the things he hangs his hat on is never losing a sectional championship game as a coach (6-0). He’s always had a great relationship with players. I care about the kids and I’d want somebody who’d put them in positions to win. He knows how to get a team ready to win.”

With the Penns Grove search wrapping, it leaves two head football coaching openings in Salem County.

The searches at Woodstown and Salem are progressing. Woodstown has started conducting interviews. Salem has interviewed one candidate and is awaiting more.

“We won’t let it go too long before we try to ramp it up,” Rams athletics director Darryl Roberts said.