Boys Soccer: Jack Weber steps down as Montclair High School boys soccer coach
After coaching soccer at Montclair High School for 30 years, Jack Weber has stepped down as head coach of the boys soccer team and will be joining the Verona High School boys soccer staff as an assistant coach and head coach of the freshman team.
The Montclair Times reached out to Weber for comment this week, but did not receive a response. In an interview published today in the Verona-Cedar Grove Times, a sister paper of The Montclair Times, the longtime Verona resident said "I’ve lived in Verona since ’98. The community has been great to my family. My kids have done well in the school system and have played at times in the Verona United program. I’ve been doing this a long time and I think this is a great step for the community."
Weber told the VCG Times that is was difficult to step down from his position with MHS after so long but felt it would’ve been just as difficult to return for one more year.
"At the end of the day, my boys were playing in Verona and I was coaching in Montclair and time really, really flies," Weber said. "You blink and things happen so fast. But the opportunity to come coach [in Verona] is special. Let’s just say this is the only change I would’ve considered. I’m fortunate something opened up and I was lucky enough to be considered."
Weber, a living legend at MHS, helped the Mounties reach incredible heights since taking the reigns in 1986. In his 30 years with the program, the Mounties compiled a record of 442-154-46 that included four sectional championships (1997, 2000, 2002, 2012) and eight Essex County championships (1996-1999, 2002-2004, 2013).
Stepping in as the interim head coach will be Weber’s longtime assistant coach, former player and MHS alum, Toure Weaver.
"I’m ready," Weaver told the Times. "Over the past few years, I’ve been able to do a lot with the program to the point where I feel comfortable doing what I’ve done for the last few days and going forward."
Weaver added that he couldn’t have asked for a better mentor and that Verona is very lucky to be getting a person as special as Weber
"I know how much he’s given to this program and he puts the program ahead of himself," Weaver said. "The sacrifices he’s made for the kids on and off the field and the impact he’s had on so many of our lives, it’s like a legend leaving."
As far as the team’s reaction, they couldn’t be happier that the team is in the hands of Weaver.
Senior Hamza Elfilali and junior Reece Bordick told The Times that Weaver and Weber are like two peas in a pod and that the transition will be comfortable and they feel the team will do just fine.
"Weber has been everything to the program and you can’t ask for more from a coach that dedicated everything," Bordick said. "I don’t think you’ll meet a more passionate guy."
"It feels a little different," Elfilali added. "But Weaver knows what he’s doing. Weaver’s always been like a head coach, not an assistant coach."
Email: verhagen@northjersey.com