How a former Bridgewater-Raritan long snapper landed a D-1 coaching job at Presbyterian

The distance from Bridgewater Township to Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, is about 720 miles and an 11-hour car ride away. That pales to the football odyssey Jake Maggio travelled to get there since graduating from Bridgewater-Raritan High School in 2019.

Considered too small to play football, Maggio earned his way on the field and became a three-year starting long snapper in high school and went on to play in college.

He’s now in his first season as an assistant special teams coach at Presbyterian, which plays in the Pioneer Football League of the NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision.

“This has been my lifelong dream, it's the game I love. Everyone said I’d never be a football player,” said the 23-year-old Maggio.

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The taunts of doubt Maggio heard during high school – he was listed at 5-foot-7, 150 pounds as a senior - served as a powerful motivator.

He spent his high school summers attending long snap camps to improve. Buffalo, Orlando and Chicago were among the stops. He also marketed himself as a long snapper on YouTube and Hudl.

The effort paid off.

He made it to the University of Maine roster as a preferred walk on, though he didn’t play, moved on to Citrus College in Glendora, California, and ended his playing days at West Liberty University in West Virginia.

At Citrus, he started 10 games as a long snapper, earning league Special Teams Player of the Week five times. He started nine games as a long snapper at West Liberty and appeared in one game on the kickoff team. He graduated Magna cum Laude with a B.S. in sports organization and leadership.

While at West Liberty and with a year of eligibility left, Presbyterian defensive backs and special teams coach Will Kirkendall spotted Maggio’s name in the transfer portal and phoned him. Because of a shoulder injury, Maggio told Kirkendall his playing days were over. He instead asked if there was a chance to coach.

“When I came over to Presbyterian, we were starting at ground zero with special teams, we had only one specialist,’ said Kirkendall, in his second season with the team. “Jake stayed in touch. It was kind of a funny fluke situation. He started off as a potential player that I was going to bring in to snap for us, and now he is a coach.’’

“(Head) Coach (Steve) Englehart and the entire staff has made my first season coaching great,” Maggio said. “They have all taught me a ton and took me in like family."

The Blue Hose are 3-3 so far after finishing 1-10 last season and 2-9 in 2021. They beat Dayton 20-17 in overtime last Saturday, recording their first-ever Pioneer League win. Freshman Mack Mikko’s 34-yard field goal won it. Maggio has worked closely with Mikko.

“Our special teams have been pretty solid and our punt team is ranked in the top 20 in the country. Having Jake here to help those guys has been huge,’’ said Kirkendall. “Jake has done a great job. He runs all the drill work with the specialists and has a plan for them every day.”

Beating Dayton is arguably the Blue Hose’s biggest recent win. Another highlight this season was a 23-20 comeback win at Wofford, when Mikko kicked field goals of 41, 32, and 37 yards and finished with 12 points to help Presbyterian beat Wofford for the first time since 1994.

Maggio’s background is rooted in athletics. His father, John, retired as athletic director at Bridgewater-Raritan after 23 years last year. His mother Christina was a swimmer at Rowan University and his sisters, Frances and Dena played college lacrosse. His late grandfather, Ben Maggio, spent 24 years as the athletic director at Plainfield High School. His uncle, Francis, is a Hall of Fame coach at Roselle Park High School, and the winningest softball coach in Union County history. And his uncles, Steve and Pierre Loizeaux, were standout linemen at Plainfield High School.

Now he is making a name for himself with an objective of someday being a head college coach.

But Maggio knows he has a lot of work to do and a lot to learn before he’s ready to climb the coaching ladder.

“What’s surprised me most about the job is the amount of additional responsibilities and the preparation that is required to operate and organize the program,” said Maggio, who credits Director of Football Operations Coach Chad Vecharella for showing him what is required.

“I started out the same way Maggio has,” Kirkendall said. “I tell him being a coach, is a marathon, not a sprint.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ football: Bridgewater-Raritan player now coaching with Presbyterian