Montclair Kimberlley Academy head coach Anthony Rea guided the Cougars to a superb 8-1 season last fall. (Photo Courtesy of Doug Allen)
WEST ORANGE/MONTCLAIR — Growing up as a member of a very athletic-minded family, it seemed that every day meant the possibility of playing any number of sports for a young Anthony Rea.
Now, the 12th-year Montclair Kimberley Academy head football coach is still a relatively young man (he turns 39 on June 17), but might be considered a somewhat grizzled veteran of high school gridiron battles at this point, as the West Orange resident prepares to join three other noteworthy individuals as soon-to-be new inductees into the Essex County Football Coaches Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies of the 31st Paul Robeson East–West All-Star Classic at Robeson Stadium in East Orange on Tuesday, June 10. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
The West, which is comprised of players from Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties, won the 2024 Robeson Classic, 23-12, in a game played at William ‘Doc’ Ellis Memorial Field in Belleville, as finishing touches were still being completed on the new Field turf surface inside Robeson Stadium in East Orange. The East is made up from players from Essex, Hudson and Union counties.
A big occasion at every Robeson Classic is the introduction of the latest Essex County Football Coaches Hall of Fame members at halftime.
Rea will be joined in the 2025 Hall of Fame class by Irvington High School Principal and longtime North Jersey football coach Darnel Mangan, former Montclair defensive coordinator and ex-Bogota and Emerson Boro head coach Jamie Bittner and the late Essex Catholic head coach Anthony Bailey.
For Rea, who played football and basketball, and competed in track and field at Summit, and was then a starting defensive back at Gettysburg College, a strong family was a huge part in his development as a young athlete on the rise and someone who would eventually become a successful high school head coach.
“My family has played such a critical role in both my playing and coaching careers,” said the highly regarded MKA head gridiron mentor, who played scholastically under both Mike Columbo and George DiGrande at Summit. “They have been so supportive and sports have always played such a huge role in our family.
“Our house in Summit, when we were growing up, functioned as a basketball court, football field and baseball diamond, often all in the same day. My dad (Frank)’s involvement with the football program in Summit is what influenced me to get involved in football, and my brother Matt’s 2009 Summit football team was awesome to follow, as they won the North 2, Group 2 championship.
“While Matt was finishing up his playing career at Middlebury, I was just starting to get seriously involved in coaching, but I was lucky enough to get up there to see some games. Along with my mom Judy and my brother, Joe, they really all have done a great job making sure I’ve felt supported throughout my coaching career.”
Being inducted into the Essex Football Coaches Hall of Fame is a huge honor for the veteran MKA head mentor, who guided the 2024 Cougars to a superb 8-1 record.
“It’s probably cliche to say that I was shocked and surprised when I received the news, but that was really my reaction,” he said. “I don’t think I really believed it at first. When you think of a Hall of Fame, you think of legends, people who are ‘larger than life’ in the game of football and have been in the sport for a very long time and who everyone seems to know.
“To me, I’ve had some great assistants, like John Lenczuk, Ed Manigan and Steve Puryear, just to name a few, who I always thought of like that. For me to even be in that conversation, to be considered and then selected for this in Essex County is such an incredible honor.”
And, with potentially many more years still left to go in his coaching career, Rea realizes how fast the years continue to go by, while still enjoying each new season.
“The funny part is I would certainly still consider myself young in terms of my coaching career, but heading into a 12th year as the head coach at MKA, I do understand and recognize the fact that even 10 years today as a head coach is a very long time, given the fulltime nature of the job,” said the longtime Cougars head mentor, who also previously served as an assistant coach at William Paterson University. “It feels like just yesterday I was meeting with my 2014 team for the first time and the years have passed quickly. Part of that is a credit to my players, who don’t make this feel like a job at all. They make it an enjoyable experience and one that I am grateful to be a part of.”
MKA has also been a special place to be a part of for Rea.
“When I first arrived in 2008 as an assistant coach, I think the biggest thing that struck me over the first couple of weeks at MKA was that there was real football talent at the school, even if the record didn’t always reflect it,” he said. “It was not a place where having a good football program was an impossibility. It was a place where there could be real success on the football field. It’s part of the reason why I was so comfortable coming back for my first head coaching job in 2014. Even if the record is sometimes up and down, because it’s not a big school, it’s really been a lot of fun to help continue to build such a solid football program, and one that is built around the players having a positive experience.
“It’s a wonderful school with so many great people working behind the scenes, and the students always give you their best. For so many of my students to go on to be successful beyond the football field, that’s a blessing as well.”
Rea is a busy man as, in addition to his teaching chores at nearby Montclair High School, he has also served as an assistant basketball coach at MKA for the past 13 years under longtime Cougars head hoops honcho Tony Jones.
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