September 16, 2011 – Bergen Catholic’s Nunzio Campanile, left, and Don Bosco Prep’s Greg Toal lead their teams into Hawkins Stadium tonight for the Manatee Memorial Hospital Suncoast Challenge. Photo Credit: Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

Bergen Catholic football head coach, Nunzio Campanile chatted with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about former Don Bosco Prep head coach, Greg Toal becoming an assistant coach at Bergen Catholic high school. Press Play Below To Listen To The Interview On Scoop B Radio.

The Bergen Catholic Crusaders and Don Bosco Prep Ironmen will play in a nationally televised game Friday night on ESPN at Granatell Stadium in Ramsey, NJ.

The two schools have become one of northern New Jersey’s storied football rivalries.

At 5-2 (3-0 in conference), Bergen Catholic are winners of their last four games defeating Paramus Catholic, St. Joseph, St. Peter’s Prep and Pope John. Crusader running backs Josh McKenzie and Rahmir Johnson have been off the charts and quarterback Johnny Langan has guided the offense.

Don Bosco Prep, 2-5 (0-2 in conference)  are looking for a win and have lost close games to St. Joseph and Paramus Catholic. Sophomore running back running back Jalen Berger has been one of the tops at his position in the state of New Jersey.

Aside from all of that, let’s not act like this is any ordinary game.

It’s the return of Don Bosco’s legendary coach, Greg Toal, who will be coaching on the opposite side of the field for the first time against a school he has plenty of history with.

Toal, now Bergen Catholic’s defensive line coach and special teams coach, abruptly retired as Don Bosco Prep’s head football coach. Toal held a 178-29 coaching record for 18 years as head coach at the school. He also guided the Ironmen to nine state titles and two national championships.

Toal’s coached players who took their talents to the NFL. That list includes, Ryan Grant, Corey Wootton and Cleveland Browns standout Jabrill Peppers.

 “Everyone had that mutual respect for Coach Toal,” Corey Wootton, now a Big Ten Network Analyst told me by phone.

“That’s what set him apart.”

Toal also introduced the state of New Jersey to the notion of a traveling schedule and playing other schools with similar prestige.

Don Bosco Prep head football coach Mike Teel. Photo Credit: NJ.com

Many within the area began to speculate that Coach Toal was forced to retire, rather than leaving on his own free will. The school quickly named Mike Teel the school’s new head varsity football coach. Toal didn’t show up to Teel’s introductory press conference.

Don Bosco Prep president, Father Jim Heuser addressed Toal’s retirement and hiring of Mike Teel in a released statement, stating:

“Finally, there has been much discussion concerning the announcement of Coach Toal’s retirement before and during last week’s press conference. Prior to the press conference last Thursday, representatives of the Board of Trustees, including our Board Chairman, met with Coach Toal concerning my decision and left with a handshake and the clear understanding that he had agreed to retire from his position. Respecting that decision, we communicated that to our students, faculty, and other interested parties last week, as Coach Toal was advised was our intent. We were surprised to later learn that Coach Toal had apparently reversed his decision.”

This Bosco/Greg Toal/Bergen Catholic saga has more storylines and relationships than an episode of All My Children.

Hopefully they have just as cool of a theme song as the tv show! 

“When I started hearing the real story I was extremely upset,” former Don Bosco Prep quarterback Steve Levy told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.

“I was embarrassed, and I was hurt. Those were the three feelings that I had the most and still feel.”

And there’s more:

Mike Teel, Toal’s replacement, was coach by Toal at Don Bosco Prep in the early 2000s and later served as Don Bosco Prep’s offensive coordinator under Toal up until he replaced him.

Bergen Catholic head coach, Nunzio Campanile is also a disciple of Toal.  Campanile was Don Bosco Prep’s offensive coordinator from 2000-2009 before leaving and becoming a head coach at Bergen Catholic. “I think he’s got a lot of gas in the tank,” Campanile told me on Scoop B Radio.

“And I told him when I left Don Bosco that a lot of people thought I would take over for him because I worked under him for ten years and the one thing that I said was he can step aside when he wants to. What he has done for high school football is tremendous so I was disappointed that it didn’t go that way from all of the stuff that we’ve all read. But in the end he is a great coach and he deserves the opportunity to coach and I think he’s done a great job focusing on the future rather than dwelling on the past. He’s had unbelievable memories at Don Bosco and I think he wants to keep it focused on that and what he’s going to do in the future and I think that’s a great way to look at it.”

Tired yet?

Bergen Catholic assistant coach Fred Stengel, formerly the Crusader’s head coach for 22 years before resigning in 2010, talks to players before practice on Tuesday, August 22, 2017. (Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran/Northjersey.com)

Coach Toal is also an assistant coach at Bergen Catholic along with Fred Stengel, Bergen Catholic’s once retired former head coach. Stengel was Bergen Catholic’s head football coach for 22 years before resigning. 

Stengel and Toal were once rivals and are now co-workers.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Don Bosco Prep is 38-28-2 all-time against Bergen Catholic.

Million dollar question: Is Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco Prep a rivalry?

“Absolutely,” says Coach Campanile.

“I mean first of all this is about the kids and the kids are going to play the game. If you ask Coach Toal, that’s what he’s going to say and if you ask Coach Stengel,  that’s what he’s going to say. And if you ask, Mike Teel that’s what he’s going to say. They are the ones who go out and play the game and they deserve to be a part of that rivalry, which is as good as it gets in America when it comes to high school sports; especially football.

Added Coach Campanile:

“Coach Toal coming to Bergen [Catholic]  has nothing to do with Don Bosco. It has to do with a great fit and him having an opportunity to coach, me having the opportunity to get a great coach, our school getting a great mentor. But at the same time, when it comes to the game, we’re going to crank it up and we’re going to play football and it’s going to be a great game like it’s always been a great game.”

With more than a few family trees involved, Friday’s ESPN nationally televised game between the two schools can’t come soon enough. 

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The post Scoop B: Coach Greg Toal’s Return To Don Bosco Prep Has More Ironies Than Your Favorite Soap Opera appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Big Ten Network’s Corey Wootton. Photo Credit: YouTube

Former Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions defensive lineman Corey Wootton spent six seasons in the NFL after being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round (109th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Wootton retired last season after registering 12 sacks and three forced fumbles in 86 career games.

A dedicated husband and family man, it was admirable that he cited his dedication to his loved ones for his ultimate retirement decision.

Now a college football analyst with the Big Ten Network, Wootton breaks down plays, interviews future football stars, which his extension to his love for football.

Wootton isn’t a stranger to the Big Ten. After all, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors while suiting up for Northwestern University in 2008.

Corey Wooton while a member of the Chicago Bears. Photo Credit: CSN Chicago

A cemented career in-tact, Wootton often finds himself answering the same question over and over again!

What was it like to sack Brett Favre? Ain’t you tired of answering that question Wootton?

“The thing about that title is I don’t like it in a way because I feel like people are celebrating me taking him out or his last play,” Corey Wootton told Frederick Ennette on a recent appearance on the Triple Threat Podcast

For those tardy to the party: while still an NFL rookie with the Bears, Wootton sacked Favre, who would then have a concussion and later retire. It was the last time anyone sacked Favre, as he’d later retire.

“You never want to take anybody out and that was never my intention,” said Wootton. “You know in the game of football, between the lines when the whistle is blown, you have to do what you have to do. And you know, I was making a play and slammed him into the ground and unfortunately he hit his head on a really hard surface that wasn’t heated.”

If you’d like to see the hit you can click here to view it.

Added Wootton:

“It was a terrible situation to see him have a concussion on his last play, but it was definitely good to have my first sack against someone like him. A Hall of Famer, arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but you know that’s football. Football is a brutal sport. Everybody that watches on Sundays, realizes that week in and week out there’s concussions, hits, all of it. So people know what they signed up for and you know like I said: ‘it’s just unfortunate to see someone get injured like that.’”

To be fair, tabbing Wootton as the last guy to sack Brett Favre isn’t totally fair to either party. At the time of the hit, Favre was 41 years old and had the third worst NFL quarterback rating along with 19 interceptions thrown that season. “It was one of the few times I went blank in my career,” Brett Favre said after the hit. “It was the way I swung around on the turf. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily the hit.” 

Wootton didn’t just talk Favre on the Triple Threat Podcast. He also weighed in on CTE, CTE research and the adjustments the NFL is making with the game of football. “They’re trying to make the game safer, these targeting calls, these helmet to helmet plays,” said Wootton.

“And I think it’s great because you see a lot of these former players and even current players have issues with memory and balance and different disorders. People having dementia and you know it’s unfortunate considering that as a kid you kind of know that football isn’t the best thing for you, but you think: ‘hey as long as I’m not getting any concussion, it’s no big deal.’ But now these constant hits are what’s the issue. I feel like they still have yet to understand exactly what it is, so I think you’ll definitely see some people retire early. You saw the past year especially when I retired in 2016, how many people under 30 years old were retiring and looking at their future; you know people were playing five, six years saving up their money, getting their little benefits and then moving on to the next career which I think is smart.”

Wotton examined it even a little closer to home:

“I had a teammate I played with, Kent Shaw for the Bears and he ended up playing in Tennessee as a special teamer and he just got diagnosed with ALS in 2014,” he said. “A guy who never had a documented concussion. They say you’re a third more likely to get ALS playing football, so it’s just unfortunate. But I like what they’re doing, trying to make it safer. But it’s football regardless of what you change, this and that you’re still gonna be hitting heads and bumping heads with people.”

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The post Scoop B: Former Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings & Detroit Lions Defensive Lineman Corey Wootton Talks NFL & CTE, Brett Favre & Big Ten Network appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Last month, folks in the northern New Jersey high school football community were shocked to learn that Don Bosco Prep football head coach Greg Toal had retired.

With a 178-29 coaching record for 18 years at the Ramsey, NJ school, Toal brought national championships, state championships and introduced the state of New Jersey to the notion of football teams having a traveling schedule and playing other schools with similar prestige. He coached players that would go on to the NFL like Ryan Grant, Corey Wootton and current NFL prospect Jabrill Peppers.

Don Bosco Prep named Mike Teel the school’s new head coach, but word out of the Bergen County, NJ community is that Coach Toal’s exit is not as simple as some may think.

Appearing on tomorrow’s episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Steve Levy, a former quarterback of the school believes that there was a personal vendetta against the departed coach. “I think that the only people that thought Coach Toal was way too big for Don Bosco [was] leadership,” Levy said on Scoop B Radio.

“I feel like in my personal opinion, but there was a personal agenda in there with Father Jim Heuser, where when you say Don Bosco you think of Coach Toal. I don’t think Father Jim liked that very much. They haven’t spoken in over two years there is a video surfacing from news twelve that has Coach Toal’s three hundredth win and Father Jim Heuser wrapped around the kids congratulating Coach Toal telling the kids that Coach Toal is one of the top twenty five coaches in the country and the best high school football coach in the state and then four months later you fire the guy, fake retire him and then fire him? That’s what I am saying  Scoop there is a lot going on here. There is a lot going on all that is going to surface and its just I feel and there is so many people that feel this way based off of what Father Jim has said to the press. I mean he set himself up Scoop. He made those comments at the press conference then he came back and wrote an e-mail to the alumni that someone leaked obviously public e-mail. Someone leaked to the papers. They made a huge deal of it. I read it I almost threw up in my mouth. It’s how asinine could one man be? I mean it’s just baffles me that they could handle this so poorly and then step on their own tail by doing this. Yes to answer your question absolutely there is a power struggle there.”

Don Bosco Prep President, Father Jim Heuser addressed the Toal retirement and hiring of new Don Bosco Prep head coach Mike Teel in a statement, saying:

“Change is never easy, and this change is no exception. However, having made the decision that now was the right time for this change, two points became clear. It was important to me that we honor and celebrate Coach Toal and everything he has achieved and done for the school and our students—in both an immediate and permanent manner. (We hope that we can reach an agreement with Coach Toal that will allow us to do so.) At the same time, however, it was important that we act promptly to provide a clear and solid path forward for our current students and our school. On that front, I believe that we have a new head coach in place that will well serve our students and the school for years to come.

Finally, there has been much discussion concerning the announcement of Coach Toal’s retirement before and during last week’s press conference. Prior to the press conference last Thursday, representatives of the Board of Trustees, including our Board Chairman, met with Coach Toal concerning my decision and left with a handshake and the clear understanding that he had agreed to retire from his position. Respecting that decision, we communicated that to our students, faculty, and other interested parties last week, as Coach Toal was advised was our intent. We were surprised to later learn that Coach Toal had apparently reversed his decision.”

Respected in his community for mentoring young men and more, Greg Toal coached for 33 years and has an all-time 305-55-2 record. He’s ranked 10th in wins, coaching in the state of New Jersey.

You can hear Steve Levy’s interview in it’s entirety tomorrow morning by visiting ScoopBRadio.com.

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The post Former Don Bosco QB Steve Levy On Greg Toal Retirement: “There was a personal agenda in there with Father Jim Heuser” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.