New Mendham football coach has game in his blood
MENDHAM - Brett Ressler has been around coaches for his entire life. Now he gets to run a football program all his own, as Mendham's head football coach.
He has been an assistant since 2011, the same year he graduated from The College of New Jersey. He takes over from Bill Carpluk, who finished his 20-year coaching career at Mendham with 130 wins and six conference championships during two tenures.
"Bill is all about the kids, and I want to continue that," Ressler said. "I learned so much from him both in football and in education."
Said Carpluk, "He is a 24-7 guy who is willing to put the time in. He works around the clock, year-round. He has a football mentality and he loves the game. He'll give 100 percent, around the clock, to football. He's coming here at a really good time because we have some good kids coming back and great parents. He's got a great chance to be successful."
Ressler has been a physical education and health teacher and in charge of the strength and conditioning program in Mendham's weight room since he arrived. But his growth as a coach began long before he arrived at Mendham.
His father, Darren Ressler, coached track and field in Saddle Brook and Hackensack. His brother played football at Hackensack for current Don Bosco coach Greg Toal, one of New Jersey's most respected coaches.
Ressler started at linebacker for tradition-rich Hackensack for three years for coach Ralph Dass. Ressler went on to play at The College of New Jersey for coach Eric Hamilton, who coached for 37 years and amassed 214 victories in NCAA Division III.
While in college, Ressler also interned in the Princeton weight room as a strength and conditioning coach.
"Before you play, you need to have strength and conditioning," he said. "My first year at Mendham, we were 1-9 and then we were 3-7. The following year, we went to the state final. A lot of that had to do with the weight room."
Right from his first day at the school, Ressler has tried to improve as a coach.
"He was the jolt some of us older coaches needed," Mendham assistant Ned Panfile said. "What impressed me about Brett was his willingness to learn. He spent a lot of time absorbing football knowledge from (former head coach) Doug Kirk and Bill Carpluk and coaching insight from (long-time basketball coach and AD) Jim Baglin. He is willing to learn something new, apply it and critique it if it works. That is a great trait for any coach."
Ressler already has met with the players and has them in the weight room, getting ready for the North Jersey Football Super Conference. The Minutemen will compete in the Group 4 Freedom A Division along with sister school West Morris, Mount Olive, Morris Knolls, Morris Hills and Roxbury. The official Brett Ressler Era begins on Sept. 10, when Mendham hosts Morris Hills.
"I'm always fired up and ready to go," Ressler said. "Even when I teach driver's ed, I'm excited. We believe in leaving your ego at the door, believing in yourself and your teammates and coaches, trust and accountability. We have some good kids coming back. I can't wait to get started."