Trenton hires new head football coach
TRENTON » Trenton has hired a virtual unknown to lead the Tornadoes next season.
The school board appointed Greg Hyslop, a gym teacher at Hill Annex, to coach the Trenton Central High School varsity football team on Tuesday night.
Hyslop, 33, was hired by the district in January and worked at Robeson Elementary School this past year. He will move to P.J. Hill for the 2017-18 school year as the schools will be combined.
“I think we’ve made an excellent choice,” Trenton athletic director Sharron Grady said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I’ve gotten to know him pretty good. He’s a great motivator and he loves kids.”
Hyslop previously served as an assistant coach for years at Donovan Catholic in Toms River, a team that did not notch a win last season.
He held various positions as the special teams, strength and conditioning and linebackers coach for the Griffins in his career there.
Hyslop played college football with the Methodist University Monarchs in Fayetteville, N.C., for three seasons as a starter. In his 2004 season, the outside linebacker earned honorable mention for the All-USA South Atlantic Conference.
Hyslop will earn a salary of $55,915 as a teacher next year in Trenton, in addition to his coaching of stipend of $8,481
Searching for a head football coach has been a bit of a mess for Trenton this year.
The district hired former football coach Tarig Holman as a teacher in April, expecting he would return to the sidelines to lead the Tornadoes.
But Holman never accepted his job as an in-school suspension teacher and decided to stay put at his alma mater, Randolph.
After Holman informed Randolph he was resigning as head coach, the Morris County district rolled out the red carpet for him.
Last season, Randolph went a respectable 7-4 under Holman and the team won a playoff game.
“I feel horrible about this but I can’t leave my school ... they refuse to allow me to leave,” Holman reportedly said to a friend via text message in May. “They told me that I could resign and apply for a new position for more money if that was the issue. They committed to doing any and everything they can do to keep me.”
Under Holman, Trenton finished a combined 15-6 for the 2013-14 seasons, reaching the Central Jersey Group V semifinals in 2014.
Mohammed El-Sherbini took over the coaching role for two seasons after Holman’s departure, putting up an 8-12 record. He resigned as head coach earlier this month.
Efforts to reach Hyslop for comment were unsuccessful.