Bill Furlong, a 1983 Jackson Memorial graduate who was the head coach at a high school in Pennsylvania for the past 11 years, was approved by the Manchester Township Board of Education on Thursday night as the Hawks' new football coach.

Furlong, who played for the Jaguars in the early 1980s and then at Ursinus College, comes over from Phoenixville High School, where he went 70-63 in 11 years before stepping down in December. The Phantoms went 4-9 in his final season in 2013, but won a division title in 2005 and qualified for the playoffs in the past three years, reaching a district final in 2011. He has previous head coaching experience in New Jersey, having coached Burlington Township for six seasons before taking the job at Phoenixville.

He takes over for Gerard O'Donnell, who stepped down in May after eight seasons with the Hawks.

Furlong's hiring fills the final vacancy in the Shore Conference during this offseason. He joins Colts Neck's Peter Shaw, St. John Vianney’s Mark Ciccotelli, Keyport’s John Paczkowski, Neptune’s Rodney Taylor, Howell’s Luke Sinkhorn, Holmdel’s Jay Graham, Wall’s Dan Curcione and Asbury Park’s Bill Hill as new coaches in the Shore heading into this fall.

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