West Deptford names John Emel as head football coach
John Emel knows the electricity that high school football brings on Friday nights in the fall.
He says it's even more powerful at West Deptford.
“If you’ve ever been to West Deptford for a game, you know it’s one of the best atmospheres in the state,” Emel said. “I wanted to be a part of it.”
He’s going to get the chance.
Emel was named the next football coach at West Deptford High School. He was approved by the school board on Monday night.
“This is a gold-standard program and I’m really excited to get started,” said Emel, who was an assistant coach with the Eagles for two seasons before in 2012-13 under Clyde Folsom landing the head coach job at Penns Grove. “I always said it would take a special fit for me to leave Penns Grove and this is it.
“It’s a blue-collar community with hard-working kids. I’m a competitive guy. I don’t want to coach unless I can win a state championship and that’s going to be the goal here.”
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Emel takes over a once-perennial powerhouse at West Deptford, which owns seven sectional titles and 21 postseason appearances in its history. The team has suffered through three losing seasons over the last four years, including a 3-8 mark in 2023.
Emel guided Penns Grove to a 70-41 record over his decade in Carneys Point, highlighted by a three-year stretch from 2017-19 when the Red Devils went 35-3 with two sectional titles and three championship game appearances. Penns Grove went 13-0 in 2018, culminating with a 35-28 win over Willingboro in the South/Central Regional at MetLife Stadium.
That type of success along with his familiarity with the West Deptford program and community was strong selling points, according to West Deptford’s new athletic director Keith Williams.
“He wants to get rolling right now and that’s exciting for our program,” Williams said. “We had a lot of strong candidates, but John checked all the boxes for us, including a great track record as a head coach.”
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Emel says the cornerstones for a successful program are in place and getting the Eagles headed back in the right direction won’t be a long process.
They have a stable and successful youth program and there’s a very supportive administration here,” said Emel, who teaches social studies and special education at Penns Grove and switch over to West Deptford before next school year.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: West Deptford football tabs John Emel as its new head coach
