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.

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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.

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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.

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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!