Augie Hoffmann (two N’s) is 32 years old, a proud Boston College graduate and former NFL offensive lineman with the New Orleans Saints (Who Dat?). Monday he was named the new coach at St. Joes, taking over a program that has been one of the premier ones in New Jersey and America for two decades.
In a long chat Thursday morning in Augie’s office, I asked him about putting his own stamp on the program, what he learned coming through the ranks and where he sees Joes going.
Somehow, we ended up talking about Alumni, freshman football, Mitch Albom….but read on.
What is your job here at St. Joes?
Officially, my job is Director of Alumni Relations, co-Admissions Director, teach 2 senior English classes, coach football.
How long have you been doing that?
When I first got here, I was teaching 5 English classes and then the next year I got put into the Alumni Department because we had a vacancy there. I had always kind of dove into the Admissions, being around, meeting families and getting kids. They made the Admissions thing official last year, and been coaching obviously since I got here.
You like it?
I love it.
Really? The alumni stuff and the admissions stuff?
Yeah, I do. I happen to really enjoy it. I would be the first to tell you that the administrative part is not my strong suit, but the interpersonal relationships…I love it.
It also must tie in, I would imagine the alumni are happy when the football team is No. 1 in New Jersey.
I think our alumni are happy because now they have an alum in the office that has been through [the school], that wants to see the program, and the whole school, excel. I have made some great relationships with guys outside of the football world that have been great. We are doing a good job getting the emails out now. It was really lacking there for a long time and they are enjoying the new info and finding out what is going on.
We have a Facebook page, we do Constant Contact which is huge. Even just the personal contact between them and myself, [alumni] having my cell phone, they get in touch with me here, just kind of keeping them in the loop has been a really positive thing for us at St. Joes.
How about teaching?
I enjoy being in the classroom. I was a Human Development major in college, which is like applied psychology and if you did that at Boston College, you had to double major. There was a split second there where I thought I would maybe go to law school. And I said if I’m going to go law school, I should learn to read and write more efficiently, and that’s why I chose the English route. I enjoy teaching the classes. It’s tough to get high school seniors to read the classics sometimes (smiles). Somewhere along the line I usually let the seniors pick a book that they haven’t read.
They all get to pick one?
No, the class. I will usually lay out 3 or 4 for them to choose from, I tend toward the Mitch Albom books. I love Mitch Albom. I think he’s awesome. They give good lessons. Tuesdays with Morrie—
It’s the greatest book ever.
Tuesdays with Morrie and the 5 People You Meet in Heaven. I love it.
When did you find out about coach Karcich resigning…when did you really find out?
We have been talking about it for a long time. He alluded to it when he spoke to the media this week that when I first came back, he started thinking about a succession plan who was going to take over. When I came back to the picture, he thought it might be a great fit.
You weren’t thinking that though, were you?
No. I really wasn’t. It’s funny when I came in, I was just expecting to be the line coach, and we already had a line coach, so how naïve of me to think they would make the change just for me? So he said I want to throw a curve ball at you, I want you to run the freshman program for two years and then I’ll bring you up.
I said ‘coach, you know, I don’t know anything about running a team.’ I had just gotten out of [playing] football. I know offensive line. I know running backs, that kind of stuff. But I never have called a defense, or done any of that stuff. He said I think it will be good for you to have your own thing, learn how to be a coach, because freshmen you are so in-depth with them, especially here. You are really into their lives. It’s completely separate.
It was a great experience. Awesome, awesome.
What did you finish?
My first year we were 8-1. We lost to Bosco. And my second year, we were 8-0-1, we tied Bergen. But we hadn’t beaten Bosco, Bergen or St. Peters in like 3 years [on the freshman level]. So it was kind of like, we are going to do this and we are going to do it the right way.
Did you learn a lot?
Yeah. Yeah. The biggest thing was, when I took the job and we had this team, it was Flaherty, Campo and Buckman and those guys, I was horrified, I said, oh my, we are bad. We are slow. We are not [good]– because I hadn’t acclimated myself from NFL speed to here. And the guys that had been here who coached with me were like, no, Aug, I think we have something here, these kids are pretty good, and I said, no, we’re in trouble.
And I am talking, [we] buried these kids [in practice]….I don’t know how they didn’t quit. That’s why I have such a love for that group. That was my first group and we just hammered them. I will never forget that double session, it was like the hottest week – since I have been back, we have never had a summer like that – and they just kept fighting and fighting and then we get into our first scrimmage and we just come out of the gates just ripping. We ran through the pre-season. We opened up with DePaul and I think we put 50 points on them in a freshman game.
Which is impossible….
Right, it’s impossible. The Bergen game was like a heavyweight fight. The refs were like, we have never seen a freshman game like this and we ended up beating them by 10. Bosco beat us, they were stacked. They had Razohnn, Troy Kay was still there….they had kids, they beat us up pretty good.
So on the varsity staff what have you been doing?
All offensive line, and working with [offensive coordinator] Rob [Stern] coordinating the run game type of stuff.
Did Tony change his mind about resigning after losing to Bosco, was he wavering, or all along, was he thinking this is the time?
I think 100 percent that he had some reservations because he’s a football coach. That’s what he is. That’s his make-up. He lives and breathes for this stuff. I think naturally, it was like, whew [a hard decision]…Personally, I think he can still coach, there is no question about it. He’s still got the fire to do it. [But] I think he is ready. I think he feels the program is in a good place. I think us working together for 5 years, he felt comfortable with the move and sure, does he, does he still want to coach? I’m sure he does. But he has 4 grandkids, he still has the AD job, there’s a lot of things going on in his life. I think what made it easier for him is he felt good about where the program was, and where he and I had come from where I first started, so it made the transition a little easier.
How’s your life changed since Tuesday?
(smiles) A lot phone calls, a lot of text messages. Even coaches from around the county, that kind of stuff.
Two hard questions, although not just two….first, why not post the job? You mention there are other good coaches in Bergen County who would salivate for this job? Why not see who is interested?
If you’re asking me my opinion, I think it was important especially for a school like ours, to have somebody who has been through the program that genuinely cares about the school itself, rather than bring someone in. Like you said, there are guys out there who might do a better job than me….who knows? But I don’t think there is anybody out there who has a genuine concern, and a care and wanting to see the school excel more than me. I think from our standpoint, and if you ask anyone about the school is the family atmosphere and the tight-knit community. [This] was the next logical choice.
Second, will you take over from Tony as AD then down the road?
That’s not a conversation that we have had. He’s made it clear that he’s staying on as the athletic director. If that was something that he wanted to bring up, I’m sure we would have that conversation.
You’ve talked a lot about Tony’s impact on your life and the lessons he’s taught you, but how are you different than him? How will this become Augie’s team?
I think, I think just a function of time, being younger, having the opportunity to spend a couple of years at the highest level and seeing the way practices are run, seeing what is important to the kids now.
I wrote about this before when talking about Paramus Catholic, kids today want to be on Twitter, wear bright uniforms, be aggressive and if you don’t know that, you’re just a dinosaur.
The kids, the generation has made it perfectly clear, like this is the way it’s going to be. I think from that standpoint, they are going to work hard, they know that. I think the little things, changing practice schedule here and there, doing some things a little differently. I have some ideas on how it’s going to be mine, and not his.
Who is on the schedule next year?
Right now, the league schedule. We do not have anything locked up. We have been talking to a bunch of different schools, we just have to figure out where they’re going to fit in, but right now, we have nothing.
How much input will you have?
That’s been, that and staff have been the 2 biggest things, even going for the last 3 weeks now, we have to set the schedule, and now that Tony has stepped down, we have to talk about staff and things like that, but the schedule is paramount. I’d to get that done before the New Year.
I don’t see that happening.
I don’t see it happening, but the good thing is, we have some good leads on stuff, it’s a matter of putting it in the right place.
Will there be any staff changes?
Coach and I have already sat down and started talking about the staff and which direction we want to go and I will sit down with each guy on staff and feel them out, and basically put the pieces together which what I feel we need, I’d like to keep as much continuity as possible.
There was already someone on staff, who had head coaching experience, Rob Stern was at Hudson Catholic, and has done a great job since coming over here. What’s your relationship like with him? Do you think he’s ever thought ‘I should be the head coach.’
I don’t think Rob has had that thought. I think Rob is a tremendous coach. He’s awesome. He has done it at every level. He’s been successful. He has a tremendous mind, and from all accounts, I think he is ready to move on with me and help make this transition as successful as possible and I genuinely need Rob, I want Rob to be around because he’s the type of guy – we talk on daily basis – we talk offense. Every day we are talking about this formation, how do you want to block this kind of stuff, to have a guy like Rob with me as this transition goes forward, that’s my top priority, that he is with us. He is with the school. He is with me, and he’s made it clear that that is what he wants. I am just excited to move forward and have him here to bounce things off of, because he’s good man, I’m in the meetings with him and he’s good on both sides of the ball. It’s important that he is with us.
Do you see more of a national profile for this team then Tony did?
I see the importance of playing the national schedule. I also see the negative. I think it’s important, I think you definitely want to play 2 out-of-state games. I think 3 could be a stretch depending on where you’re going, who you play. This year, more than ever, maybe it’s because the talent is so spread out. If you asked me last year, I would say national championship [was the most important thing], no question, but coming off the schedule we had, I think the most important thing for our school is to win the Big North United Division and be the No. 1 team in the state.
Winning New Jersey, to me, is probably the most important thing. To go through the gauntlet we went through, starting with St. Peters, Paramus Catholic and DePaul and gear it back up against for Thanksgiving for Bosco….
Can I play Devils Advocate though and say maybe Bosco was prepared to beat you on Thanksgiving because of their national schedule?
They definitely took Miami Central on, and Mission Viejo. Was it the national schedule that prepared them? I don’t know. I think they are a great football team. I think they got better as the year went on. People said, oh they have 4 losses, well, so what? They lost to runner-up national champs in Miami Central, they took Viejo to the wire, they were banged up against DePaul and PC, that game could have gone either way. They got healthy and momentum in football is a tremendous thing. They were on the rise toward the end of the season. We were on the next level in the beginning toward the middle and I think the bug started to catch us a little. You can never count out a team like that. Ever.
In part two, Augie and I talk about how Joes differentiate itself from the rest of the Big Five, whether the Green Knights have an advantage being in Group 3 and the issues plaguing non-public North Jersey football.