Augie Hoffmann doesn’t have many stories/pictures hanging in his office, but he does have this one, so I thought he would enjoy seeing it again. This is a photo from 2012. Hoffmann with the offensive line for St. Joseph High School in Montvale includes; (l-r) Tommy Hatton, Joel Campo, Shawn Flaherty, Hoffmann, Austin Stapleton James McNerney and Kevin Wilkins.
STAFF PHOTO BY; KEVIN R. WEXLER
Part 2 of my interview with new St. Joe’s football coach Augie Hoffmann talks about his relationship with the other coaches in the Big North United, the issues in HS football and whether or not he’s ready for the challenges that lay ahead.
How does St. Joes differentiate itself from the other schools in the Big North when it is attracting potential student-athletes?
Augie: Right off the bat, you look at the population. We are half the size of Bosco. We are almost half the size of Bergen and PC is on another level. They’re 3 times our size. So, if you’re an 8th grader looking to be part of that, I use it again, that family atmosphere, that tight knit [focus], it’s a community. St. Joe’s is different because its a tight knit group. You look at our administration, our principal is a graduate, our admissions director is a graduate, I am a graduate, we have 4-5 teachers that are graduates, the coaching staff. It’s important to the people that have been here. And I think you feel that when you come in.
From my standpoint, I’m bald, I have a gray beard, but I’m not that much older than you guys and I’ve been to where you want to be and I know what its going to take to get your son there. More importantly, and I think this comes across when I meet the families, it’s not just about football. You are going to be a good young man when you come here, you will be a better young man when you leave. I think that comes through, because I have a vested interest here. I’m not a guy that worked at a different school, or went somewhere else, I have a genuine love for the place.
Conversely, Chris probably has the same effect over at PC when he meets with parents, because he’s a graduate.
He’s walked through the hallways.
Augie: It’s important to you on so many more levels than just football and I think that’s a huge selling point for these families.
Did you ever think you were going to be back here?
Augie: No, it’s funny, when I first got done playing football, I was working with my agents and I found out that that wasn’t going to be the lifestyle that I wanted. I had gone to school for education. I love football and I wanted to coach and be a part of it. [Bosco coach] Greg Toal and I are real close, because his son and I were roommates for 5 years in college and he was actually trying to get me on in Hasbrouck Heights.
At that time, everybody was pounding the public school route down my throat. You gotta get into public school and the pension, more money, this this and that. I had come to talk to [Karcich] about it too, and he said, did you ever think of coming back here? I said, well, I think about it, but I was kind of hesitant, because now you’re coming back to the same place [you were]. You know what I mean? And I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a Catholic school guy, but it ended up just working out perfectly. There was a job open in the English department. He needed a freshman coach. I was a grad. It was all these things that worked out, and, I’m glad it did, because it’s a great life. I enjoy what I’m doing.
There are 2 big issues in HS football, more than 2…
Augie: Yes.
But only 2 I will ask you about, the first is we play/practice 12 months a year, even in the NFL you had time off. Has it gone too far? Do we need a dead period?
Augie: Absolutely. No question about it.
There is a reason that colleges and the NFL have mandated dead periods. You just can’t do it. You can’t run your body into the ground. These are 14-17 year old kids. They need a break. To be in pads in June, to me, is absurd.
Don’t yall do it?
Augie: No, no, we aren’t in pads in June.
July?
Augie: Late July…the first week in August, we are in pads. I don’t believe in it. I think you can put a helmet on for safety and run around, but to be hitting in June is absurd. It’s just too much.
There are some who would say though that the reason why Bosco, Bergen, Joes and PC can compete on a national level is the extensive practice time.
Augie: Yeah, there is no question, are we working out? Are the kids busting their butts? No question. But it’s the pounding that they don’t need to take that early. Lifting weights and running hard, and OTA type of practices, that’s good. It clears up the Xs and Os. You can hit the ground running, you can get acclimated to football, but to put them in pads, and start hitting and start middle drill and inside run period and 1 on 1s… the human body has a finite number of hits in them. Whatever that’s going to be. Everybody’s is different. I just think, I always liken it to the NFL and college, hey, when you’re off, you’re off, and that’s why the NFLPA did such a good job protecting those guys the last time the CBA came up, because they recognize we need a break, our bodies need a break and I think it’s more important for the young kids to have those breaks because they’re still developing.
I think a dead period is essential. I think managing practices and things like that is important.
Will this be brought up to the NJSIAA? Tony had said he might.
Augie: I think so. I think so. I think its been discussed among the league and everybody kind of agreed on a dead period.
The other issue is transfers…stealing…I don’t know what you want to call it, but kids jumping from one non-public school to the other. Are you concerned with it?
Augie: Am I concerned with it? Yeah, I am, because what is it teaching everybody? Look, I’m not going to say we are holier than thou, we have had kids transfer in from other non-publics. It happens. Um, is it going to stop happening? I don’t see it stopping any time soon. I guess fundamentally, you say, if a kid doesn’t want to be here anymore, what are you going to do, force them to be here? On the other side of it, you say, what are you teaching the kid if he’s just wants to leave because he’s not playing a position that he likes, so yeah, its a problem.
Is it going to stop? I dont see it stopping, but you know, it’s one of those things where, I wish everybody would just kind of say, we acknowledge that its happening, is it wrong? Yes. But what are we going to do? Because until the families start changing the way they think, the coaches and the schools aren’t going to…what are you going to do? Tell the kids we aren’t going to take you? Come on. Unless there is an academic issue or a behavioral issue or something like that.
Can’t you discourage the kids though by saying you have to sit for 30 days?
Augie: Absolutely. That’s the first thing that comes up. Listen, understand, you will have to sit for 30 days, and 9 times out of 10, they tell you that that’s not an issue. Ok, well, I’m telling you, this is the rule. You sit the 30 days, unless there is a legitimate – I’m not sure if that is the right word – a legitimate change of address or something like that, you will have to sit. And you’ll be behind the eight ball, because you haven’t been here. (chuckles). It doesn’t deter anybody.
Being in Group 3, is it a fair fight?
Augie: Well, I think, we kind of get labeled, ‘oh, you play a Group 3 schedule.’
No you don’t.
Augie: No.
But in the playoffs, you do.
Augie: In the playoffs, right, you can make the argument….well, it’s not an argument that it’s an easier road. It’s a function, if anybody knows how the state works, it’s a function of population. We have just over 500 kids in the school.
But you beat the Group 4 champ this year.
Augie: That’s what we do. Now, think about that, that’s a credit to what goes on here and the coaches that have been here, because we don’t have the numbers. A lot of our kids play 2-3 sports, a lot of our kids played both ways this year. You sit here and do the math, ok, now, they don’t have as many kids, you can’t penalize them for that, and you can’t just bumping schools up, you can’t just do that.
But doesn’t it ever leave a hollow finish, I mean, y’all demolished Immaculata in the state finals, wouldn’t it be nice to prove without a doubt, if we played PC again, or Bosco again, we would beat them, and show for once and for all, we are Number 1?
Augie: It’s a great argument. Because it is a gamut, knowing you have to run through those guys again, playing those guys twice is definitely a challenge, that’s why we go out and schedule those games. When I was here, we were a Group 4, we played Bergen in the state championship, we played them my junior year in the state semifinal. That’s when Seton Hall Prep was really good. Holy Cross was really good. We played in Group 4. We were the smallest school in Group 4, and we were still doing [what we do]. It didn’t change.
I still think the state may switch back to A and B for non-publics eventually, just 2 groupings, so it would be like the 1s and 2s together and the 3s and 4s together.
Augie: That’s a tough…that’s a playoff, that’s a tough run. For so many years when Bosco was winning everything, you run through the state, and you win the Group 4 title, everyone knows who the number 1 team is. For us, we know that when we get to the playoffs, we are not going to have that same opportunity to get them again, so we have to play Bosco, we have to play St. Peters and Bergen and Paramus Catholic to make our claim.
The funny thing is, last year, PC is the Group 4 champs, they beat you, you finish Number 1. This year, you beat them, lose to Bosco and you’re number 1 again. That’s kind of nice the way that worked out. (laugh)
Augie: (laughing) Yeah, you know last year was –
You know what I’m saying, people think it’s an advantage that you don’t have to play them again, being in Group 3.
Augie: Right. To have to play them twice, it’s definitely hard, there is no question about it.
All right, so let’s get this straight, we now have Toal, Nunzio, Partridge….Hoffmann??
Augie: Yeah, new guy on the block.
Have you grasped the fact yet, whoa, this is Big Boy football, those are some pretty smart and talented coaches, not to mention McKenna at DePaul.
Augie: Listen, it’s hitting me, and it’s been hitting me more and more each day. Because, yeah….listen. I played against Chris in high school. I have known Coach Toal since I was a senior in high school, because we have a family relationship and I have known Nunz, just getting closer to him from being in the high school realm. Those are 3 awesome coaches, and I guess the verdict is still out on me. And I just hope at some point, they’re going to sit there and say, oh he belongs. I think I have the blueprint. I think I have been around coaching long enough to know what works and what doesnt, I’m excited to throw my name into the Big Four now.
When the news came out about you getting the job, I was texting people and one person wrote back and said, ‘they better hope he’s ready.’
Augie: Absolutely.
So are you ready?
Augie: No question. The one thing that I think has helped me with the pressure aspect is being around the next level, now, by no means was I a star in the NFL. I was a practice squad guy, hanging on for life. But I have to tell you something, you talk about stress, you don’t know if you have a job every day. Every day you come in and hope your stuff is still in the locker. I appreciated that. I know what its like to break your [tail] every single day and have to make the tough decision on whether to stay here or do that. I’m hoping that I have that background to move forward and say, I’ve been here, it’s a little bit different, but I understand how to deal with the pressure and stuff like that. And be ready to deal with the consequences afterwards.