Chris Strumolo has been named the new Glen Ridge football head coach. 'I’m excited about the opportunity in front of me. I think it’s great timing in my life and to just help move the program forward over there.'
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge High School football program has enjoyed success over the past few seasons.
Chris Strumolo, who recently has been named the new GRHS head football coach, is excited to help build on that success.
“It feels great,” said Strumolo about being the new Ridgers head coach, in an interview with The Glen Ridge Paper. “I’m excited about the opportunity in front of me. I think it’s great timing in my life and to just help move the program forward over there.”
Strumolo spent the past five years as an assistant coach for the Caldwell University sprint football team, where he coached the linemen.
A 1992 Nutley High School graduate, Strumolo played for then-head coach Rich San Filippo at Nutley. San Filippo incidentally was also a former Glen Ridge HS head football coach, leading the Ridgers to their last state sectional championship in 1982.
After serving as an assistant coach at Weequahic HS, where he was on the staff that won the 2006 Central Jersey, Group 2 state title, Strumolo became the head coach at Belleville High School for three seasons from 2008-10. In his first season at Belleville, Strumolo led the Buccaneers to a 5-5 final record, capped by a 29-22 home win over rival Nutley on Thanksgiving. It was the last time Belleville has beaten Nutley.
After Belleville, Strumolo was an assistant coach at Newark Central High School.
Strumolo replaces Manj Singh, who was the Ridgers head coach for the past two seasons. Singh stepped down to become the new head football coach at Verona High School. In Singh’s first year in 2022, the Ridgers ended the season by beating Hawthorne, 36-13, in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Group 1 regional invitational tournament championship game at Hurrell Field to finish 5-5, after overcoming a 1-3 start to the campaign. The regional invitational tournament consists of teams that just missed qualifying for the state playoffs.
This past season, the Ridgers again started 1-3, but bounced back and qualified for the North 2, Group 1 state sectional playoffs for the first time since 2017. Glen Ridge, seeded seventh, upset No. 2 seed Waldwick/Midland Park, 33-26, in the quarterfinals for its first state playoff victory since 1982. The Ridgers then fell to Shabazz in the semifinals to end with a 6-5 record.
Strumolo has always been impressed with Glen Ridge’s football tradition, recalling San Filippo’s days as the Ridgers head coach. Strumolo also was always familiar with Glen Ridge when he was an assistant coach at Central.
“When I was at Central, we played them a bunch of times,” Strumolo said. “Good kids, played the game hard, played the game the right way. We had some great games with them. They were kids that never backed down and they were tough kids. I just loved the way they played.”
Strumolo is excited about moving the program forward, developing the players as student-athletes and to get the most out of their potential.
”The wins and losses will come, if you build them the right way, based on hard work and being dedicated and doing things the right way,” Strumolo said. “Hopefully, there will be some successes in our future.”
Photo Courtesy of Chris Strumolo
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