Demarest promotes assistant coach to head football job

Continuity and chemistry are the major themes for new Demarest football coach Rob Petrella.

The 34-year-old former assistant - and chemistry teacher - at Demarest was approved as the program's new head coach by the district’s board of education on Monday night. He's also currently the school's head softball coach.

Petrella takes over a program that has won two games in the last two years and has opted to compete in the Ivy Division of the Super Football Conference in 2024, a place for programs to rebuild their numbers while foregoing eligibility for the state playoffs.

“I’m very excited, this is somewhere I want to be,” Petrella said. “We have great kids that want to be here and play football. It’s going to be good.”

Petrella laughs that there probably aren’t many chemistry teachers who coach football in North Jersey, but his experience and connections at Demarest won out in the job search. He replaces Nick Guttuso, who accepted the head coaching job at Ramapo.

“Coach Petrella has a clear vision for the program, which includes getting down to the feeder program and bringing it back to where it once was,” Demarest athletic director Mike Oppido said. “He has all the tools from his mentors, Tony Gonzalez and Drew Gibbs. Throw in guys on the staff like Chris Anzano and Mike Esposito, and you’re talking about a special group of coaches where only positive things will happen.”

Petrella grew up in Ridgefield Park, where he played for Gonzalez, and attended the University of New Haven, where he earned his degree in biology. He added a master's in special education from New Jersey City University.

His first coaching job came as a volunteer with the Scarlets. Then he worked under Gibbs for four years while teaching at Ramapo. He started teaching at Demarest in 2018 and started coaching the Norsemen a year later. His coaching background is on the offensive and defensive lines.

“Our senior class will have been through three head coaches in their career, but scheme wise, we’re not changing anything,” Petrella said. “The last couple of years, we've been building a football culture. I think we have a real good senior class and providing stability for them will be a good thing going forward.”

“It was important that we found the right head coach and assistant coaches to put together a staff who our student-athletes will benefit from,” Oppido said. “With this hire, it allows for our assistants to stay in place with a new head coach.”

Demarest returns a large senior class headlined by Division I recruit Marco De Croce. Petrella said he’s looking forward to the challenge of the Ivy Division and the chance to compete each week.

“Our goal is to be highly competitive in every game,” Petrella said. “I want us to be well prepared, which is something I think we have been the last couple of years. Gritty is the word I would like my team to be. That’s typically an underdog word, but being a Ridgefield Park guy, we had a way of making teams feel it when they played us. That’s what we need to be.”