In this episode, we welcome our friend and former Colts Neck Defensive Back Coach Greg Hope. Coach Hope has an extensive football past and he details his good fortune of being coached by very good men at every level, from Wall Pop Warner to Wall High School to Montclair State University. Coach LaCava and Coach Hope initially met over 20 years ago when both were assistant coaches at Manchester High School. While at Manchester they formed a tight bond of friendship that began to grow after they shared an early weight room workout. Coach Hope joined the Colts Neck staff as Defensive Back Coach when Coach LaCava was hired as the Head Coach in 2009, and he immediately played an important role in the development of Coach Letson's Cougar Defenses. A career Health and PE Teacher, Coach Hope became the Colts Neck Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach after Coach LaCava's final season with the Cougars in 2013. Coach Hope went on to lead Colts Neck to a State Sectional Volleyball title, and he continues as the Female Cougars VVB Coach to this day.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

Coach Letson directly addresses long standing critics and digs deeper into his defensive philosophy, game planning and influences including Bill Belichick and former Ocean Township great Coach George Conti. This episode includes how Coach Belichick's game plan in Super Bowl 25 greatly influenced Coach Letson's defensive thinking and approach to game planning throughout his career: Stop their A Game and force them to win with their B Game. Coach Letson's tackles critics of his approach of creating piles on the LOS when necessary if a DT is at a significant size disadvantage and reviews how Coach Conti's tactics in leading his great Big Red Teams helped him to understand the nuances of high school football as compared to the other levels. Coach Letson reviews some game football of Colts Necks game against eventual CJ Group 3 Champ Neptune in 2011 and go to the Board to describe how his 2-5 Allentown Defense forced a 7-0 Notre Dame team to run the ball in 2001 in helping to keep the game within reach into the 3rd Quarter.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

Coach Letson details how his version of the 53 Defense evolved over his years as the Defensive Coordinator at Middletown High School South, when the school appeared in 5 straight NJ CJ 4 State Title games from 1988 to 1992. This episode includes some X's and O's and video footage of 2 of his most dominate MLB's whose unique talents shined in the same 53 scheme 18 years apart: #52 Joe Little Middletown South class of 1993 and Tyler Van Wagnor Colts Neck class of 2011.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

In this episode, we welcome Dr. John Andl, a man who has meant so much to both of us as a coach, mentor and lifelong friend. Our journey with Coach Andl began when he joined Coach Comeforo’s staff at Middletown South High School in 1985 and he became Coach LaCava’s RB position coach. In 1986, Coach Letson joined Coach Andl as an assistant on South’s coaching staff as the Secondary Coach and little did we know at the time that the three of us would reunite in the future on several different stages. Coach Andl was to become the Head Coach at Middletown South in 1988 when he hired both of us to join him on his staff, and he subsequently led South to consecutive CJ Group 4 Finals in 1988 and 1989, winning South’s first ever State Title in 1989 with a 21-3 victory over Madison Central. The 89 Team received the post season USA Today ranking of #13 in the country. Coach Andl would later join us at Colts Neck High School in 2009, where he would be Coach LaCava’s top Offensive Assistant and be an integral part of the Cougars high powered offense and 2013 CJ Group 4 State Finalist.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

In this episode, we welcome our great friend Jack Nascimento, our former Colts Neck Assistant and current OC at Donovan Catholic. This episode underscores the lifetime bond of friendship that coaching this great game of football together can create, which sometimes only takes 1 year together as this episode reveals. Coach Nas describes his introduction to the game with a great experience with Keyport Indians Pop Warner Program and his decision to attend SJV to play football and baseball while all his childhood friends attended public school. Coach Nas won the QB job as a sophomore and ran the Wing-T for Coach Penta for 3 years. Following graduation circumstances lead Coach Nas to immediately coach the Freshman for Coach Penta at SJV and he immediately fell in love with coaching. Coach Nas details his journey from there, making a stop at Brookdale Community College to Pitch for Coach Johnny Johson before making coaching stops at SJV, Raritan, Ida S Baker in Cape Coral, FL, Monmouth, Marlboro, Colts Neck, Holmdel and now Donovan Catholic for the last 8 seasons. Coach Nas shares with listeners the horrific injury his son Gavin experienced while playing for him at Donovan Catholic in 2024, an update on Gavin's progress and how grateful the family was for the tremendous outpouring of support during that difficult time.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

In this episode, we welcome our friend and coaching colleague, Coach Craig Cicardo. Our ties with Coach Cicardo go back to when we were all coaching in Middletown, NJ in the late 1980's and early 1990s. Coach Cicardo has a very interesting path and one that also has some similarities to our own. Coach Cicardo was a part of the inaugural football class at Lacy High School in 1981. At Lacey he played QB under the legendary Shore Football Great Lou Vircillo. Following his college football career at FDU where he also played QB, Coach entered the world of college coaching at McNeese State in LA, where he coached WRs for a short time before returning to NJ and becoming the Head Coach Baseball at Mater Dei Prep in Middletown. Shortly thereafter the Head Football job opened, and Coach became Mater Dei’s Head Coach at the young age of 24 where he remained as a fixture in the area for 10 years. Coach Cicardo became the Head Coach at Pinelands Regional High School in 2000 through 2003. During his tenure he led the Wildcats to their first playoff berth in school history. Coach returned to college ball in 2004, coaching the WRs for one year at Monmouth University before returning to his roots and joining his beloved Head Coach Lou Vircillo as an assistant at Lacey for the next 6 years. From 2010 to 2012 Coach Cicardo returned to the college coaching ranks, coaching both at Kean and The College of NJ, remaining at the latter from 2015 to 2021. Coach Cicardo has been the Head Coach of the NJ Warriors Junior College Football team out of Jackson since 2022 and in this episode, he describes this opportunity for community college students in depth.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

Our Special Guest in Episode 8 is Kevin "KC" Keenan, our former player at Allentown High School who joined our staff upon graduating high school in June 2002. KC shares his coaching and career journey and how his special relationship with Coach LaCava impacted his decisions during a time of uncertainty in his life. KC also shares how he and his Allentown teammates embraced Coach LaCava's challenge to be different, and fought for respectability as a football team. This episode reflects the special bond coaches and former players develop when they become coaching colleagues and lifelong friends.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!

Our special guest in this episode is our close friend and coaching colleague, Joe Murphy. This episode takes a deep dive into Coach Murph’s lifelong passion for the game of football that first began with playing Pop Warner in Middle Queens, NY where he was born and raised, to the present day as an Assistant Coach for the Allentown Redbirds. Coach Murph reflects on his playing days in the NYC Adult Unlimited League (any size, any age, any weight) for the Long Reds from 1972 to 1975, and his transition into coaching for Allentown Pop Warner (NJ) in the early 90s. The hosts share their experience of meeting Coach Murph when they came to Allentown in 1999 and his transition onto their staff where they began a lifelong friendship. Coach Murph also describes his experience of coaching former Colts Neck female place kicker Abby Letson, who was among the top NJ statistical leaders in 2013.

____________________________

Here We Go! A High School Football Podcast is hosted by Coaches Tom Letson and Greg LaCava. They offer a combined 50+ years of coaching experience to help new and seasoned coaches build successful high school football programs.

Be sure to subscribe to get notified when new episodes are released!