WEST ORANGE, NJ – Seton Hall Prep Athletic Director Larry Baggitt has announced that the school’s new head football coach is William Fitzgerald.
Coach Fitzgerald will come to The Prep with a long and proven track record of cultivating excellence in student-athletes, while instilling a commitment to both winning and good sportsmanship. Since 2008 he has been the Quarterback Coach/Offensive Coordinator at St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, bringing with him to Seton Hall Prep a history of developing highly regarded quarterbacks and offenses. Coach Fitzgerald has been recognized with appointments to a number of prominent high school All-Star coaching teams. Prior to his post at St. Peter’s, he held coaching posts at Dumont High School and Utica College.
Upon accepting the position, Coach Fitzgerald remarked, “I am honored to be given this opportunity to become the head coach of the SHP Football Program, a program rich in history and tradition for over a century. I understand the incredible responsibility that this leadership position demands and I am thrilled to begin this journey with an outstanding group of players, coaches, administrators and alumni. I’m also excited to make an impact in the classroom, working with a highly motivated student body. I want to thank my family for their endless support and (head coach/athletic director) Rich Hansen and everyone at St. Peter’s Prep who guided me throughout my many years there. I cannot wait to get started, Hazard Zet Forward!”
Fitzgerald is a graduate of and former football player at Union College, where he graduated in 2003 with a degree in Psychology and his Masters Degree in Special Education from New Jersey State University. For the last 10 years he has been employed as a teacher in the Union City school system. He will also assume a position at Seton Hall in the Learning Assistance Program.
Coach Fitzgerald takes the reins at Seton Hall Prep following the departure of Coach Vito Campanile. The school has one of the longest athletic traditions in New Jersey, with the football team playing its first game in the late 1800s. He is the 15th football coach since 1930. Coach Tony Verducci held the longest tenure, from 1955 to 1987, when his teams captured 11 Parochial “A“ titles and posted 104 shutouts. Quarterback on his 1956 team was the school’s current President, Msgr. Michael E. Kelly, Class of 1957.
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