Breaking football news: Monmouth Regional coach resigns

by1 STAFF REPORT


Bob Acosta, who coached
the Monmouth Regional High
School football team to an
historic season last fall in his
only season as the Golden
Falcons' head coach, said yes
terday he has resigned to take
an assistant coaching posi
tion at the University of Dela
ware.

""I've always had the dream
of being a college football
coach, and now it's happen
ing,'' Acosta said.

At Delaware, Acosta will
coach the tight ends and will
be working for his mentor …
Blue Hens' coach K.C. Keeler.
Acosta played for Keeler at
Rowan University from
1995-99 and was an assistant
coach to Keeler at Rowan
from 2000-2001.

Keeler, who has been Dela
ware's head coach since 2002,
coached the Blue Hens to the
NCAA Division I-AA national
championship in 2003. He al
so coached Rowan to at least
the national semifinals in
seven of his nine seasons as
the Profs' head coach.

""The opportunity to coach
for him again means every
thing to me,'' Acosta said.
""I'm coaching football be
cause of K.C. Keeler.''
Delaware hosts Monmouth University Sept. 29.

Last season, Monmouth Regional,
which has had an erratic foot
ball history, did a lot of
things it had never done.

The Golden Falcons, who went 8-3, won
their first-ever NJSIAA play
off game in their first-ever
playoff game … a 32-14 tri
umph over Ocean in a Central
Jersey Group III quarterfi
nal. They won the outright
Shore Conference Liberty Di
vision championship for the
school's first-ever outright
Shore Conference football di
visional championship and
they set a school-record for
wins in a season.

""The hardest thing about
making this decision was the
kids here at Monmouth,'' said
Acosta, who was the head
coach at Marlboro High
School in 2003, an assistant
coach at Brick Township
High School for legendary
Green Dragons' head coach
Warren Wolf in 2004 and an
assistant coach at The College
of New Jersey in 2005.

""I'm attached to the kids
here. All the credit for the
success we had goes to them
and our the assistant coach
es.''

With Acosta's resignation,
Monmouth will have its
fourth head coach in four sea
sons. Bob Merola coached the
Golden Falcons in 2004 and
Derek Sininsky was the head coach in 2005.

-STEVEN FALK