Joe Sabella finds ideal fit at Paramus by Chris Iseman of The Record
The reputation spoke for itself.
Ten straight playoff appearances. A history of tough teams that always put up a fight.
Joe Sabella was plenty familiar with the success of Paramus’ football team.
Now he has the chance to help the Spartans create that success as their head coach.
“When you have an opportunity like this, you have to take advantage of it,” Sabella said.
Sabella was officially hired as Paramus’ next head coach last week, taking over the program after Bill Weigel was relieved of his duties in November.
The Spartans went 5-5 this past season, falling to eventual-champion River Dell in the first round of the North 1, Group 3 playoffs.
“Expectations are high,” Sabella said. “When you have that kind of success, you start to expect to win. And that’s who I am. Every season I coach, that’s what I want to do. I want to win. And I think everybody at Paramus feels the same way.”
Sabella stepped down as Indian Hills’ head coach in January after seven seasons at the helm. He led the Braves to the playoffs in 2015 during an 8-3 campaign.
Taking over at Paramus was a natural fit for Sabella.
His brother, Dan, had a highly successful run as the Spartans’ head coach before leaving for the same position at Paramus Catholic after the 2015 season.
Dan Sabella led the Spartans to nine straight playoff appearances and back-to-back trips to the North 1, Group 4 championship game.
Joe spent two seasons on his brother’s coaching staff before becoming Bogota’s head coach in 2009.
“There were a lot of relationships built at that time that are still there. Our athletic director was there, some families are still there that have some kids going through,” Sabella said. “It has been years since I’ve been there. But when you walk in the locker room and you walk in the weight room, you remember the days that you helped build the foundation there and you’re proud of where it is now, and you’re super excited to be the one that gets to take over from here on out.”
Sabella met with his new players last week and said they all seemed eager to get to work.
This past season was a tumultuous one for the Spartans, but Sabella said he and his players will only look to the future.
“We can’t look in the past no matter what,” Sabella said. “Even my brother’s years and all the success that he had and going to back-to-back state championships, as nice as that is, we have to just focus on who we are today and who we’re going to be tomorrow.”