Football: Generelli returning to the sidelines as an assistant at Howell

The Freehold Regional High School District will board-approve its fall sports coaches during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting, and among those listed is a Hall of Fame football coach.

According to the agenda, former Raritan and Middletown South head coach Bob Generelli will be returning to the sidelines as an assistant coach at Howell under newly-hired head coach Frank Edgerly. The new staff at Howell under Edgerly also includes Nicholas Farrar, Bill Hill, Dave Jimerson, Matthew Norman, Lawrence Peslak, Adam Sacco and Bob Mussari. Only Farrar and Mussari were on the staff last season under former head coach Luke Sinkhorn.

The most successful coach in Raritan High School history, “The General” amassed a career record of 110-49-2 and led his teams to a total of nine championships in 15 years combined between stints at Raritan and Middletown South.

Generelli produced three undefeated teams, including the only 12-0 squad in Raritan history. The Rockets won the program’s first NJSIAA sectional title in history in 2004 when they beat Carteret in Central Jersey Group II behind first-team All-State quarterback Andrew Mandeville. Generelli also had two undefeated seasons at Middletown South in 1990 and 1992, which included finishing ranked No. 1 in the state by the Associated Press in 1992. Generelli is part of an illustrious group that includes SFCF Hall of Famers like Vic Kubu, John Amabile, George Conti and Chip LaBarca Sr., who led multiple Shore Conference teams to undefeated seasons. He also coached a pair of future NFL linemen at Middletown South, brothers Christian and Jason Peter, and coached Raritan’s Bennett Jackson, a cornerback who became a captain at Notre Dame, was drafted in the sixth round by the New York Giants in 2014 and is currently on the New York Jets.

In addition to winning three state titles, Generelli’s teams also reached four other sectional championship games, fashioning an 18-9 record overall in 12 appearances in the state playoffs. He won a combined six division titles, three at Raritan (2004, 2005, 2008) and three straight Class A North crowns with the Eagles from 1990-92. Generelli also coached Monmouth County to victory in the 1992 edition of the Gridiron Classic, which was then known as the All-Shore Classic. In 2008, he was inducted into the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was inducted into the New Jersey Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Generelli starred as an offensive lineman under Kubu, the late legend whose 11 NJSIAA titles are a Shore Conference record, from 1979-81 at Middletown North. He then went on to play at Montclair State, earning All-New Jersey Athletic Conference honors as an offensive guard in 1985. In 1995, he was inducted into the Middletown North Lion Hall of Fame. He also coached a combined four years at the collegiate level – two years under current University of Texas coach Mack Brown at the University of North Carolina, and two years under longtime Monmouth University coach Kevin Callahan.

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.