Chad King is returning home.
King, a former Ocean Township High School star running back/defensive back, was approved as Ocean’s head coach Tuesday night by the Ocean Township Board of Education, Ocean athletic director Rusty Todd said.
King had been the head coach at Long Branch the last two seasons and before that was an assistant coach for 11 seasons at Long Branch under legendary former Green Wave head coach Dan George. George was also the head coach at Ocean through King’s junior season.
A 2000 OTHS graduate, King succeeds Don Klein, who resigned in late February after he was hired as the head coach at his scholastic alma-mater – Shore Regional. Klein was Ocean’s head coach the last 17 seasons and is the school’s all-time winningest coach.
Long Branch went 14-9 under King with three NJSIAA road playoff wins.
The Green Wave advanced to the NJSIAA Central Group 4 championship game last season, with wins at Jackson Memorial and unbeaten Brick Memorial.
In 2022, Long Branch won a first-round Central Group 4 game at unbeaten Pennsauken.
Ocean went 93-75-1 under Klein with nine NJSIAA playoff appearances, four Shore Conference divisional championships and seven winning seasons.
The Spartans’ best seasons under Klein came in 2013, when they went 10-1 and were defeated by eventual Central Group 3 champion Hopewell Valley in the Central 3 semifinal; 2015, when a team led by current Philadelphia Eagles’ backup quarterback Kenny Picket, 9-2; 2019, when a team led by Syracuse University junior wide receiver Trebor Pena went 8-1 and 2022, when a team led by quarterback Tyler Douglas, now at Temple University, went 8-1.
Ocean’s best period of success came from 1983-1993 under legendary head coach George Conti Jr..
Ocean won its first sectional title in 1993 under Conti with an unbeaten team quarterbacked by his son Eddie It added sectional championships in 2000 under head coach Scott Larkin and 2005 under head coach Sal Spampanato.
King is the third Shore Conference head coach to switch schools from last season. In addition to Klein, Jay Graber, Matawan’s head coach the last five seasons, is now the head coach at Brick Township.
Ocean, which went 4-6 last season, will be in Shore Conference Class B North this season with Middletown North, Matawan, Freehold, Freehold Township and Red Bank Regional. The Spartans will also play non-divisional games against Holmdel, Manasquan and Shore.
Long Branch is now the only opening in the Shore.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Chad King returns home, hired as Ocean Township head football coach
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