Andy Carlstrom resigns as Keyport football coach

Andy Carlstrom has resigned as the head football coach at Keyport High School after only one season, he told Shore Sports Network on Monday morning.

The Red Raiders finished 3-6 in Carlstrom’s first and only year with the program. He cited the lack of a teaching position at Keyport as the main factor for his resignation. Carlstrom is currently a math teacher at Perth Amboy High School and said being at a different school while coaching at Keyport became too difficult. He said no mathematics teaching jobs in the district will be available in the near future.

Carlstrom also said having the chance to see his son play his high school football games was a deciding factor. Terry Carlstrom just finished his junior year at Shore Regional and is a key component of the Blue Devils’ offense. Carlstrom said he hopes to get back into coaching after his son is done playing.

Carlstrom has a 34-36 record in eight seasons at Holmdel, St. John Vianney and Keyport.

Carlstrom’s resignation means Keyport will be searching for its fourth head coach in the last six seasons. The revolving door at the top of the football program is a stark departure from the stability of the prior three and a half decades when Mike Ciccotelli led the Red Raiders. A Shore Football Coaches Foundation and New Jersey Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer, Ciccotelli guided Keyport to 11 Shore Conference division titles and six NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 championships during his 36-year tenure, including an 11-0 year in 2002 and 11-1 records in 1998 and 1999.

Keyport went 10-2 and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 championship game in 2016 but is just 4-15 over the last two seasons.

Managing editor Bob Badders can be reached at bob.badders@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Badders. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.