Sean Norton to take on first head coaching job with Hopatcong football
Depending on who one asks, Sean Norton has been dreaming of being a high school football head coach since he was a kid, since he was playing at Boonton High School, or the past decade.
Norton, 33, will finally get his chance at Hopatcong.
"It's a small town that loves football," he said. "If they're having a good year in terms of winning and losses, or if they're struggling, the kids are always physically and emotionally tough, and keep fighting. ... No matter what, the stands are close to being full every time. The community rallies around the football program."
All fall coaching appointments, including the football staff, were formally approved at a Hopatcong Borough Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday night.
Coordinator of student activities Peter Oesen said seven people were interviewed by a committee which included "different perspectives on each candidate," including principal Stephanie Martinez, certified athletic trainer Matt McKowen, and marching band coordinator Kurt Zimmermann.
Gary Andolena, who had been the Chiefs' head coach for 10 years, will stay on as an assistant, along with Mark Certo and Hopatcong alumnus Austin Brown. Mickey Norton, Sean's older brother, will join the staff as special teams coordinator.
Sean Norton used to be on Mickey's staff with the Boonton boys lacrosse team. They both coached their youngest sibling, Joe Norton, at Boonton, where their sister Renee was also a three-sport athlete — and their parents both graduated.
Sean Norton was a freshman and Mickey a senior on the Bombers' 2003 NJSIAA North 1, Group 1 championship team.
"We always talked about what it was like to have his own program. For him, it was always a dream," said Mickey Norton, the head Boonton boys lacrosse coach and a football and boys basketball assistant at Montville.
"I said, 'When you become a head coach, I want to be on staff with you.' We didn't think it would happen this quickly. ... It'll be nice to go back to a smaller school and focus on basics."
A physical education teacher at The Craig School for children with learning differences in Montville, Norton has been on Bryan Gallagher's staff at Boonton, his alma mater, for eight years, and last fall was the offensive coordinator at Hackettstown. Norton started playing football at age 6, went on to Boonton, and then was a running back and kick-return specialist at FDU-Florham.
Gallagher encouraged Norton to "fix one small thing every single day." But Norton has taken that farther in his first few weeks at the helm in Hopatcong, "fixing five larger things a day. Soon enough, it'll be one small thing a day."
Norton said 33 players had signed up, about the same as last fall.
Hopatcong won just once in 2021, beating Sussex Tech, 30-21, on Oct. 29. The Chiefs have not had a winning season since 2014, and were last in the NJSIAA playoffs in 2013. Led by running back Joe Martinek, who received Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year honors, the Chiefs won their last sectional title in 2005 — the second in school history.
Hopatcong will move into the Super Football Conference's Ivy Red this fall, joining Dover and Bergen County teams. The Ivy Division was designed to give teams with lower participation a chance to compete against similar teams.
"Our goals are simple," Norton said. "We want to be the most fundamentally sound football team in our conference. We want to strive to continue to play Hopatcong football, a very physical style, and keep this great tradition going."
Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.
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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ football: Sean Norton takes first head coaching job in Hopatcong
