Clearview football coach Mark Deal not retained after seven seasons
Mark Deal, who is widely regarded as one of South Jersey football's most innovative coaches, will not be retained at Clearview.
Mark Deal, who is widely regarded as one of South Jersey football's most innovative coaches, will not be retained at Clearview.
Deal, who teaches at Gateway, said on Wednesday he has been informed that the Clearview administration preferred to have a head football coach who "teaches in the building."
Clearview athletic director Mike Vicente said Wednesday it was a "difficult decision" to cut ties with Deal.
"I've had a great relationship with Mark for the last five years that I've been the AD," Vicente said. "We just thought with the responsibilities with being a head football coach, especially at a Group 4 school, with recruiting visits from college coaches, to supervision of the locker room after school, to equipment issues and budget issues and just so many things, that it was just becoming more and more difficult to manage without a head coach in the building.
"We wish Mark nothing but the best."
Deal, who was Clearview's head coach for seven seasons, said he was "caught off guard" when Vicente told him of the move after the team's weight-training session on Friday.
"As an adjunct coach, you're at a disadvantage," said Deal, who is a health and physical education teacher at Gateway. "They wanted to have somebody who teaches in the building.
"But if something like this was to happen, you expect it to happen right at the end of the season. It's very disappointing to me."
Deal's 2016 team went 6-4, finishing second in the West Jersey Football League National Division - ahead of teams such as Delsea, Eastern, and Paul VI - and qualifying for the South Jersey Group 4 tournament.
In the first round of the playoffs, Clearview dropped a 35-34 overtime decision to perennial power Shawnee by the margin of a missed extra point.
That playoff loss underscored Deal's strength as an innovative offensive strategist: Clearview's triple-option offense moved up and down the field at Shawnee, generating more than 300 rushing yards and scoring five touchdowns.
"Just a play here or there," Deal said after the heartbreaking loss that left many of his players in tears.
Deal's teams were 29-41 in seven seasons at Clearview.
"The relationships we built with the kids," Deal said of his best memories of coaching the Pioneers. "I live in the district and all three of my kids went through the school. Just the bond we built, the brotherhood."
Deal also has been the head coach at Gateway, Maple Shade, and Audubon in a distinguished, 23-season career.
Deal said he hopes to coach again. He noted that the late stage of the notice that he would not be retained at Clearview precluded him from applying for head coaching positions that opened in South Jersey this winter.
"I definitely want to keep coaching," Deal said. "I wasn't planning on giving this up. When the dust settles, I'll explore my opportunities, see if somebody is looking for a coach [as an assistant] and if it's the right situation."
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