McCann to leave South Plainfield wrestling for AD job

Kevin McCann, a recent New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee who helped build the South Plainfield wrestling program into a perennial state and one-time national power, has been recommended to become  the high school’s athletics director.

The South Plainfield Board of Education will hold a special meeting in the high school’s media center on Wednesday night for “the purpose of hiring personnel” including an athletics director, according to a posting on the district’s website.

Al Czech, who recently completed his fifth year as South Plainfield’s interim athletics director, posted a message Tuesday morning on the NJSIAA Forums, to which administrators statewide have access, stating: “Kevin McCann will be taking over as the athletic director in South Plainfield. Kevin is a great person, and he will be great to deal with in the future.”

Board of Education President Debbie Boyle said McCann “will be on the agenda” Wednesday night but “until the vote’s taken, nothing is etched in stone.”

Neither Czech nor McCann – owner of a 302-40 career record during 14 seasons who last year guided South Plainfield to its ninth state title and in 2013 groomed the Tigers into a Top 15 nationally ranked team – could be reached for comment Tuesday.

READ: South Plainfield wrestling team wins ninth state title

Mike Buggey, a former South Plainfield wrestling coach and athletics director who was inducted last year into the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, said he believes McCann, if approved by the Board of Education, will make a seamless transition from coach to administrator.

“I think the board (will have) made an excellent choice in selecting Kevin,” Buggey said. “I think he’s the ideal candidate to lead South Plainfield forward, and I’m totally confident that he (can) do an excellent job. He knows how to build a program. His integrity and his reputation are impeccable statewide. I think that gives him instant credibility. As he did (while coaching South Plainfield), Kevin will always put the students first.”

Should McCann, who recently completed his 17th year as a third-grade teacher at Kennedy Elementary School in the district, be approved as Czech’s successor, South Plainfield would have to fill a coaching vacancy at what is widely regarded as the state’s top public school wrestling program.

South Plainfield will be loaded again next season. The Tigers return eight starters, including Joe Heilmann (106 pounds) and Zach DelVecchio (220 pounds), who placed fifth and seventh in their weight classes at the 2016 NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships.

“We have a good crew,” McCann told MyCentralJersey.com at the conclusion of last season. “We’re looking for another great year next year.”

The Tigers won a dual meet tournament they hosted last month, besting national powers such as Nazareth and Easton of Pennsylvania, as well as state powers Paulsboro, High Point, Southern and Camden Catholic. South Plainfield also won the Madison Duals last month, defeating Bound Brook, another public school power, in the tournament final.

South Plainfield steamrolled its way to last year’s Group III title, avenging a 2014-15 state semifinal loss to previously undefeated Delsea with a 27-25 comeback victory over the defending state champions. The victory, which snapped Delsea’s winning streak at 35 dual meets, enabled the Tigers to end the season as the top-ranked public school team in the state, according to both the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association and New Jersey Wrestling Coaches Association’s final polls.

South Plainfield (28-2) ended the 2015-16 campaign with just one in-state loss (28-27 to St. Augustine). The team’s other defeat was 31-21 to Colonial Forge of Virginia at the Virginia Duals. The Tigers went on to claim a state-record 32nd consecutive District 12 title while advancing 11 wrestlers to the regions, seven of which qualified for the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships. Along the way, the Tigers claimed their 23rd Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament crown.

READ: McCann is Courier News Wrestling Coach of the Year

McCann is a two-time NJSIAA Coach of the Year, five-time Region III Coach of the Year, nine-time District 12 Coach of the Year and nine-time Greater Middlesex Conference Coach of the Year.

He won a state title while wrestling for South Plainfield in 1991 and went on to star at Rutgers University, where he served as a team captain. He was inducted six years ago into the Region III Hall of Fame and three months ago into the NJSCA Hall of Fame.

McCann has been a part of seven state championship teams as a head coach and two others during six years as an assistant coach.

“He’s a very respected coach,” South Plainfield standout Kyle Bythell previously told MyCentralJersey.com. “He’s one of the most well-known coaches. Everyone loves him.”

McCann has forever been quick to credit an outstanding feeder system – including the borough’s recreation program and a steadily improved middle school program – and a supportive parents group with the Tigers’ success.

McCann has assembled what may be the state’s best coaching staff, one which features assistants Steve Johnston and John Foscolo, as well as volunteers Matt Anderson, Jon Conroy and Steve Giordano.

“I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by a great staff,” McCann told MyCentralJersey.com in March after the Home News Tribune and Courier News named him their 2015-16 Wrestling Coach of the Year.

“When you are surrounded by those people, you are going to have success. I get the accolades, but those are the guys helping in the room and getting it done.”

South Plainfield’s 2012-13 squad, widely regarded among the best in state history, featured a famed Murderers’ Row including undefeated four-time state champion Anthony Ashnault, Scott DelVecchio and Troy Heilmann. The trio were among several alumni who returned at different points throughout last season to help groom the young Tigers, who had to replace five starters from the 2014-15 squad.

South Plainfield is scheduled to attend Rutgers University’s Scarlet Knights Wrestling Club Team Camp, which runs Wednesday through Saturday. The Tigers will compete later this month in the Old Bridge Summer Duals.

McCann and his wife, Michelle, who teaches first grade at Adamsville Elementary School in Bridgewater, have three children, Daniel, Matthew and Tyler.