HS football: Seas Joe Goerge makes the most of a tough situation as he gets acquainted with new team – SILive.com

Joe Goerge is not one to complain.

St. Joseph by-the-Seas new varsity football coach knows hes in the same boat as his colleagues as the coronavirus pandemic has put a stranglehold on all off-season workouts.

Hes also fully aware, of course, that all athletes that play a spring sport are being deprived of competing at all this time around.

But Goerge, who was named the Vikings new coach on Feb. 27 after spending the better part of the last 29 years in New Jersey, is at a bit more of a disadvantage on the gridiron because he would have been using this time getting to know what he has on his roster as the fall approaches.

"I met the kids when I was introduced to the school (in February), but that wasnt the entire team because not everyone could make it. Then, we had one chance to meet the entire team in the gym for about 35-40 minutes shortly after that,'' said Goerge, who, before heading to New Jersey, honed his craft as a head coach at Port Richmond HS between 1982-91. "The school closed shortly after that.

"Weve been keeping as much contact as possible with on-line meetings since.''

Fortunately for Goerge, he does have some things that will help ease into the transition, including the fact he retained six assistant coaches from former head coach Mike Coronas staff of a year ago.

"Of course, we have all the film from last year,'' he said. "And having the assistants from last years staff helps us a bit too because they know the kids and what theyre like.

"But, obviously, the off-season program is a time for evaluation and not being able (to run it) makes things harder.''

May is traditionally the month where high school teams are allowed on-the-field workouts, albeit without pads and helmets. One of the problems concerning Goerges situation is he uses an entirely different offensive system than Corona used.

Corona used a spread offense while Goerge is planning to install a triple-option offense, something hes used for the last 10-12 years.

"It would certainly be an advantage to be able to do walk-throughs to go over certain things like stances and starts,'' said Goerge, whose son, Jason, is his offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. "Theres obviously going to be different stuff (being put in) and this would be a time where coaches would be there every day.

"But, unfortunately, a hands-on type of approach is out for now,'' added the coach, who is still teaching through remote learning at South Brunswick HS in New Jersey. "We have a big team (Sea had over 80 players on its roster last season, including almost 60 underclassman) and wed like to put them through everything to see what we have and where theyll fit in in the big picture.''

Goerge, whose team has a nine-game, regular-season schedule that includes a season-opening, non-league contest against Brearly HS (N.J.) and games against each of Staten Islands other CHSFL schools, said official workouts dont commence until Aug. 21, if permitted.

For now, hell continue to monitor the coronavirus situation along with everyone else.

"It is what it is -- its the approach we have to take,'' he said. "Were going to keep the faith and keep pushing ahead.''

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HS football: Seas Joe Goerge makes the most of a tough situation as he gets acquainted with new team - SILive.com