Anew era begins this season for the Egg Harbor Township High School football team.
The school named Rob Davis head coach in April. Davis coached Barnegat from 2006-20, stepping down with an 82-69 record in 15 seasons.
Davis was the first coach in Barnegat history and built the program from scratch. He did two things at Barnegat — win games and get players into college.
“I’m very excited,” Davis said. “I couldn’t be any more comfortable.
Everybody in the school, the administration, the faculty and more importantly the players have been incredible. It’s just a good culture of people.”
EHT, which finished 4-6 last season, has had just one winning season in the past 10 years.
“They just met me two months ago,” Davis said of the Eagles. “We’re still getting things in place, but I think we had a very good end of June and July leading into August.”
Davis plans to run a no-huddle, spread offense. The Eagles have more than 70 players on the varsity roster.
‘We have hard-working kids,” Davis said. “They’re learning different skills, different techniques, different schemes. They’ve been adapting well, and everybody has had a great attitude so far.”
The Eagles will blend newcomers with some notable returnees. Bradley Smith steps in at quarterback.
“I like that he’s a leader,” Davis said. “He’s been in the program for three years. It’s his time to shine right now.”
Kemun Council, who ran for 635 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry last season, returns at running back.
EHT features plenty of depth at wide receiver, most notably junior Noah Nural-Islam Dawkins. “He’s made a great transition from running back to receiver,” Davis said. “He’s an explosive receiver.”
Noah Holliday, Matt Kaelble, Zach Cozart and Sam Cicchino lead the offensive line.
“They have some experience,” Davis said. “They work great as a unit. They communicate well. They’re lunch bucket guys. They come to work.”