Former Rumson-Fair Haven Regional head football coach Bryan Batchler led the team to its third straight state sectional football championship in December. (Image courtesy of Shore Sports Zone)
By JOHN T. WARD
Six weeks after he was put on leave for undisclosed reasons, Bryan Batchler is expected to be replaced as head football coach at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional, redbankgreen has learned.
Batchler, who led the Bulldogs to their third consecutive state sectional title with a win over Red Bank Regional on December 5, was placed on leave by Superintendent Pete Righi just nine days later. Righi has repeatedly declined to say what prompted the suspension or provide any details about the situation, citing the confidentiality of a personnel matter.
Now, however, the school needs to find a coach for the upcoming season, Righi said in a prepared statement Tuesday.
Here’s the full statement:
A current personnel matter has caused the Board of Education to seek a football coach. The Board of Education does not have the ability to comment on that personnel matter. Our Board is acting in the best interest of our students and the program. Out of season activities, college recruitment and planning and other preparations for next season make it necessary to have a person in the position of head football coach at this time.
Righi declined futher comment.
The board is scheduled to meet next on February 16.
Batchler, who lives in Fair Haven, could not be reached for immediate comment. A previously listed phone number to his home was not in service Tuesday.
Batchler, 39, taught at R-FH for seven years, and remains listed on the school’s website as an instructor in algebra and advanced-placement statistics.
He served as an assistant football coach for eight years before succeeding Shane Fallon as head coach in February, 2013, and has led his teams to NJSIAA sectional championships in each of his three years at the helm.
