Jamil Jackson, Class of 1989, was just hired as the new head football coach at Elizabeth, succeeding John Quinn, who was in charge for six seasons from 2010-2015.
Jackson, who as a senior starred on Elizabeth’s 1988 North 2, Group 4 state championship team, is Elizabeth’s 17th head football coach.
The Elizabeth Board of Education wanted to hire someone who went through the program before as a player and student so that person -now in a coaching position – could relate to the players better, the BOE was quoted in a statement saying.
Hard to believe the program could do much better than what John Quinn did the last six years. Taking over at Elizabeth in 2010 after having already won state championships at Roxbury and New Brunswick, Quinn had to do a bit of re-inventing the wheel before getting the Minutemen back on top.
But back on top he got them. Elizabeth appeared in three state championship games in his final five seasons at the helm, winning the program’s eighth state crown in the playoff era in 2012 – the first-ever North 2, Group 5 title.
It sucks what happened to Quinn. I hope he continues to become a head coach and leads three more schools to state championships.
Jackson, who was previously an assistant at Elizabeth under Jerry Moore and Jeff Wiener and who first applied for the Elizabeth job when it was open prior to the 2002 and 2006 seasons, has also coached collegiately at New Jersey City University and his last stints as an assistant coach on the high school lever were at Linden and Lakewood.
Jackson was the defensive coordinator at all three places.
Jackson first coached as an assistant at Elizabeth from 1996-2000, all under Moore. The 1996 team was 8-0 before losing at home to Union 34-26 in a North 2, Group 4 semifinal. The 1997, 1999 and 2000 teams went on to capture North 2, Group 4 crowns, all with just one loss – 1997 to Plainfield, 1999 to Union and 2000 to Linden. The 1997 team was Elizabeth’s fourth state championship squad in the playoff era and first since 1989.
Here’s wishing Jamil Jackson, a star player at Rutgers from 1990-1994, the best of luck in his first stint as a high school football head coach.
Here’s also a look at the Elizabeth football program coaching history, with 16 coaches already leading the Minutemen to 481 victories:
ELIZABETH FOOTBALL HEAD COACHES:
John Tomlinson (1929-1932)
4 seasons: 11-19-4 (.367)
Carl Voss (1933-1934)
2 seasons: 8-10-0 (.444)
Frank D. Kull (1935)
1 season: 1-7-1 (.125)
Frank Kirkieski (1936-1943)
8 seasons: 26-40-6 (.394)
Guided Elizabeth to its first
two winning seasons of 5-3-1 in 1937
and 5-4-0 in 1939.
Michael Schibanoff (1944)
1 season: 5-2-1 (.714)
Led Elizabeth to its third
winning season.
Abner West (1945-1953)
9 seasons: 33-32-12 (.508)
First Elizabeth head coach who
finished with winning record
after serving for more than one year.
1946 team was 5-0-3.
1948 squad was 6-1-1.
1952 team was 5-2-2.
Joseph Kania (1954-1959)
6 seasons: 22-20-3 (.524)
1954 squad was 6-2-1.
1955 team was 7-2-0.
Frank Cicarell (1959-1970)
12 seaasons: 65-37-0 (.637)
1963 team was 6-3-0.
1964 squad was 8-1-0.
1967 team was 7-2-0.
1968 squad was 8-1-0.
1969 team was 7-2-0.
1970 team was 9-0-0.
RB Gil Chapman led teams
in 1968, 1969, 1970.
Jack von Bischoffshausen (1971-1975)
5 seasons: 10-33-2 (.233)
Harold Mercer (1976-1978)
3 seasons: 19-6-1 (.760)
1 playoff season
1976 team was Elizabeth’s first
N2, G4 playoff squad, falling in
semifinals to Plainfield at GS.
Elizabeth was 7-1-1 in 1976 after
a 0-9-0 season in 1975. Lou Rettino,
who took over at Union in 1977, was
an assistant coach at Elizabeth
(Thomas Jefferson) in 1976.
1977 team was 8-1-0, but did not make
playoffs, while 1978 team was 4-4-0.
Don Somma (1979-1982)
4 seasons: 25-13-0 (.658)
1 playoff season
1 playoff championship (1981)
Led Elizabeth to its first playoff title,
with the 1981 team going 10-1 and
capturing North 2, Group 4.
Robert Toresco (1983-1984)
2 seasons: 12-6 (.667)
No playoff seasons.
Both of his teams went 6-3.
Jerry Moore (1985-2001)
17 seasons: 144-29-1 (.832)
13 playoff seasons
5 playoff championships
(1988, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2000)
Winningest coach by far.
Guided Elizabeth to 17 straight
winning seasons, with the Minutemen
qualifying for the North 2, Group 4
playoffs in 13 of them. Led Elizabeth
to the N2, G4 state championship in
1988, 1989 (11-0), 1997, 1999
and 2000. Also coached Elizabeth
to seven 1-loss finishes, with four
of those teams winning state titles.
Moore’s 1989 squad finished as the
No. 1 ranked team in New Jersey.
Jeff Weiner (2002-2005)
4 seasons: 29-13 (.690)
3 playoff seasons
Led Elizabeth to 4 winning seasons,
including the N2, G4 semifinals in 2002
and 2004. Three of his teams made the
playoffs, with exception being the 2003
squad that had forfeit wins over Kearny
and Newark East Side. His 2004 team,
unfortunately for Elizabeth, was without
a reliable kicker. The Minutemen were 9-0
before losing at Phillipsburg 14-12 in the
playoffs and then in the season-finale
at Scotch Plains 13-12 to finish 9-2.
Elizabeth’s 9-0 start included all nine wins
by double digits.
Chet Parlavecchio (2006-2009)
4 seasons: 25-17 (.595)
3 playoff seasons
1 playoff championship (2006)
Led Elizabeth to an incredible season
right off the bat in 2006, with the
Minutemen coming back on a Friday night
at Rutgers – all in the 4th quarter – to
stun defending champion Phillipsburg
14-9 in the North 2, Group 4 state
championship game. Sophomore RB Raymond
Graham scored the first TD and then QB
Michael Eargle the game-winning one.
Elizabeth had one of the most improved,
if not the most improved, defenses in the
state that season. Parlavecchio led
Elizabeth to 3 winning seasons and
3 playoff appearances. His 2008 team
was 4-0 with 4 double-digit shutout wins
before falling at home to undefeated
Irvington 29-21 in OT. That Elizabeth
team finished 7-3, one year after the
2007 squad went 6-4.
John Quinn (2010-2015)
6 seasons: 46-19 (.708)
4 playoff seasons
1 playoff championship (2012)
Quinn guided Elizabeth to
3 state championship games
in a 4-year period (2011-2014).
He led Elizabeth to the 2011
North 2, Group 4 final and to the
2012 and 2014 North 2, Group 5 finals.
His 2012 team, after narrowly losing
the 2011 N2, G4 final to Piscataway at
Rutgers in the final minute, came back
in the final minute – led by senior QB
Philip Walker – to down Piscataway 37-33
in the first-ever N2, G5 title contest,
which was played at Kean University.
Quinn’s 2012 team went 11-0 and would
have gone 12-0 if not for Hurricane Sandy,
which wiped out a game at Plainfield in
November of that season. Plainfield
finished 0-9 in 2012. Quinn led Elizabeth
to 4 winning seasons, 2 .500 (5-5) campaigns
and 4 playoff years. That’s quite a resume
for a coach who has also led two other
programs to state titles, those programs
being Roxbury and New Brunswick.
ELIZABETH IN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES (8-2)
7-1 in North 2, Group 4 / 1-1 in North 2, Group 5:
Don Somma (1-0)
N2, G4 1981: Elizabeth 21, Union 0 – at Giants Stadium
Jerry Moore (5-0)
N2, G4 1988: Elizabeth 13, Morris Knolls 12 – at Morris Knolls
N2, G4 1989: Elizabeth 25, Morris Knolls 0 – at Elizabeth
N2, G4 1997: Elizabeth 14, Plainfield 7 – at Plainfield
N2, G4 1999: Elizabeth 26, Montclair 13 – at Giants Stadium
N2, G4 2000: Elizabeth 13, Montclair 7 – at Elizabeth
Chet Parlavecchio (1-0)
N2, G4 2006: Elizabeth 14, Phillipsburg 9 – at Rutgers
John Quinn (1-2)
N2, G4 2011: Piscataway 41, Elizabeth 34 – at Rutgers
N2, G5 2012: Elizabeth 37, Piscataway 33 – at Kean
N2, G5 2014: Linden 27, Elizabeth 20 – at MetLife
ELIZABETH’S 4 UNBEATEN TEAMS:
1946, Coach Abner West, 5-0-3
1970, Coach Frank Cicarell, 9-0-0
1989, Coach Jerry Moore, 11-0-0 – N2, G4 champs
2012, Coach John Quinn, 11-0-0 – N2, G5 champs