Fiore to take leave of absence, Ramiccio named interim head coach

Pete Ramiccio takes over the interim head coaching duties with the Montclair High football team after 11 seasons as a Mountie assistant coach.

Head coach John Fiore is 93-31 in 11 seasons with Montclair High.

Montclair High School head football coach John Fiore announced Tuesday, July 27, that he will be taking a temporary leave of absence from his coaching duties to begin the 2021 season, citing an ongoing family matter. Associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator Pete Ramiccio will lead the Mountie program as interim head coach in Fiore’s absence.

“My kids need me at home right now,” Fiore said following Tuesday’s team workout at Woodman Field.  “Something happened that I can’t share, that you wouldn’t want to happen to anyone’s family. It’s really important for me to be home and take care of my family and kids at this point.”

Fiore will remain in his role as physical education teacher at the high school, and told his players during Tuesday’s workout at Woodman Field that he remains committed to supporting the Mountie football players and coaching staff during the school day, even as he will be unable to coach on a day-to-day basis during his leave.

Interim coach Ramiccio has a long background in coaching football, beginning his career as an undergraduate assistant at Syracuse University. He went on to coach tight ends and wide receivers at Division I FCS Iona College before transitioning to the high school game as the defensive coordinator at Fair Lawn High School.

Ramiccio, who has been an English teacher at Montclair’s Glenfield Middle School since 2009, joined Fiore’s initial staff at MHS in 2010 as defensive backs coach. In 2014, he took over co-defensive coordinator responsibilities alongside longtime Mountie coach Jamie Bittner, and two years later Fiore named Ramiccio associate head coach.

“It’s a little surreal,” Ramiccio said. “We were hoping to find a way to keep coach Fiore around, but it’s an honor for me to be a part of the lineage of coaches here, even if it’s just for a year. What it comes down to is that I love football, I love working with our kids, and we’re going to move forward. Our players and our coaches did such a great job last year working through COVID and playing a full season. And I think we’ve got an opportunity to do some real good things this year.”

Over the last 11 seasons, Fiore and his coaching staff have overseen a dramatically successful period in the decorated history of Mountie football. Montclair is 93-31 since 2010, winning four NJSIAA sectional championships (2012, 2013, 2014, 2017), posting three unbeaten 12-0 seasons (2012, 2013 and 2017), appearing in seven state sectional finals, and capturing eight conference championships. During that time, Montclair has also sent approximately 165 student-athletes on to play college football, including more than four dozen on scholarship at the FBS and FCS levels.

“I’m proud of how we’ve made Montclair a place where colleges of all kinds, Division I, Division III, Ivy League, can come and find great young men,” Fiore said. “We’ve put out a great product, we have an unbelievable tradition as the No. 1 winningest program in New Jersey, and we have tremendous support from our alumni. We’ve consistently put ourselves up there with the top public football programs in North Jersey, and I have no doubt Coach Ramiccio is going to do a phenomenal job in maintaining that. Our kids are going to be in great hands under him and our terrific coaching staff.”

Fiore is the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the 130-year history of MHS football, and his .750 win percentage and four state titles are both good for second-most all-time, trailing in both categories behind only legendary Hall of Fame coach Clary Anderson. Fiore (career record of 155-71-1) was hired to lead the Montclair program prior to the 2010 season after serving as head coach at Neptune, Marlboro, and Spotswood.

After practicing throughout the summer, Montclair will observe the summer “dead period” next week, with preseason camp set to begin Aug. 9. The Mounties will play three scrimmages on Aug. 17, Aug. 21, and Aug. 26, before their regular-season opener Friday night, Sept. 3, an 8 p.m. kickoff against archrival East Orange at SHI Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University.

Coming off a 4-4 season under the challenging conditions of 2020, MHS will face a very competitive schedule once again in 2021, including games against North Jersey powers West Orange, Ridgewood and St. Joseph of Montvale.