Jeremy Schulte named Rumson-Fair Haven football head coach after his father Jerry resigns

The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School football program will have a new leader next season, but one with a familiar name.

Jeremy Schulte, the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator the last six seasons, will replace his father Jerry Schulte as the head coach, Rumson-Fair Haven athletic director Chris Lanzalotto said Wednesday afternoon in an e-mail.

Jeremy Schulte's appointment was approved Tuesday night by the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional Board of Education.

Jerry Schulte, Rumson-Fair Haven's head coach the last six seasons, resigned. He will remain on the coaching staff as the defensive coordinator, Jeremy Schulte said.

"We talked about it before the last season,'' Jeremy Schulte said about switching roles with his father. "He felt it was time. I felt I was ready. We just wanted to make sure everything was done the right way, everything was done properly and everyone was on board."

Before he became the Bulldogs' head coach, Jerry Schulte, 70, was Rumson-Fair Haven's defensive coordinator for 11 seasons under former head coaches Shane Fallon and Bryan Batchler. Jerry Schulte has been a coach in the Shore Conference for 48 seasons, including stints as head coach at Mater Dei Prep and Wall.

"He said, 'He wants to take a step back and enjoy,'' Jeremy Schulte said. "He loves the X's and O's aspect of it. You don't always get that being the head coach. He's really looking forward to just getting back and focusing on defense.

Jeremy Schulte said having his father on the staff is one of many reasons he is excited about becoming a head coach.

"That is a huge part of it,'' Jeremy Schulte said. "As I first told him, when everything got approved, 'I'm looking forward to telling him what to do now'. First time in 34 years. It will be exciting. I can't wait.''

11 sectional title games for RFH since 2007

Rumson-Fair Haven went 50-16 under Jerry Schulte with NJSIAA sectional championships in 2016 and 2018 and a South Group 3 regional championship in 2018. The Bulldogs advanced to sectional championships in the five seasons the NJSIAA conducted playoffs during Jerry Schulte's tenure.

The Bulldogs were 9-2 last season and advanced to the NJSIAA Central Group 3 championship game before they were defeated by Woodrow Wilson.

Jeremy Schulte, who graduated from Ocean Township High School in the spring of 2006 and joined the Bulldogs' coaching staff in the fall of 2006 as first a part-time coach, takes over one of the Shore's best programs.

Rumson-Fair Haven has won six NJSIAA sectional championships since 2010 and appeared in 11 sectional title games since 2007.

That success has come under Fallon, now the head coach at Red Bank Regional, Batchler and Jerry Schulte.

Jeremy Schulte has been on the staff for all of that success. He is also in his third season as the boys track and field head coach, with that program winning its first divisional championship last season, and is an assistant wrestling coach.

"All our athletics are great, and it's a complete buy-in from everybody,'' Jeremy Schulte said. "The kids are special. They do everything you ask them to do. They do things the right way. They want to be successful. They are raised by their parents the same way. They are in a community that supports them, and they are in a school that supports them.

"That makes it easy for us to be successful. We've got to give them the tools and we use them.''

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rumson-Fair Haven NJ football: Jeremy Schulte named coach