STAHS football coach Holman prepping for third season while serving as NJFCA president

As an ambassador who has coached football for 25 years, including as a head coach at six different high schools, Tarig Holman is ready to make an impact leading the New Jersey Football Coaches Association.
 
The NJFCA recently named Holman as its 29th president, in part because he has been on the executive committee for the past five years. Holman is a Randolph High School graduate who enters his third season as the head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
 
“I was coached by some of the best coaches in the state in football and in track, and then as a coach I was blessed to be around some of the best coaches in New Jersey,” said Holman, who also played at the University of Iowa and briefly in the NFL. “For me this opportunity means a chance to not only pay it forward, but also pay homage to those that helped me out so much and help the next generation of coaches and try to push the profession and the sport forward.”
 
The NJFCA regularly holds meetings at Rutgers University and over Zoom, discussing ways to enhance opportunities for kids and coaches, make the sport safer, and design rules and regulations proposals to submit to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.
 
One such topic has been college recruiting. New Jersey doesn’t necessarily want to hold spring football like some states do and conflict with other sports, but the governing body created an open period for football players to practice in front of college coaches.
 
Holman also serves as vice president of the New Jersey Minority Coaches Association, which he co-founded four years ago. Its mission is “to increase the knowledge and development of students and minorities involved in athletics,” according to its website.
 
Holman has sought to create a network for coaches to succeed because he feels the profession is becoming only more difficult. He remembers how when he was a student playing football in the 1990s, teams would begin practicing in mid-August. Now practices start in late-June, and teams typically play regular season games in August before the school year opens.
 
“It almost becomes a year-round job for coaches,” Holman said. “It’s difficult to maneuver with all the other things that are going on in education. I’m an English teacher, too. The football field is an extension of the classroom, and so there’s a lot that’s being put on the plates of coaches to do more with less.”
 
St. Thomas Aquinas is set to begin the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Mount Saint Joseph High School, Baltimore, as part of a more challenging schedule than last year.
 
The Trojans, who had a strong 19-3 record in Holman’s first two seasons, have moved up from the United Gold Division to the National Silver Division within the Big Central Conference. That means they will now face bigger public schools like North Brunswick and Sayreville. Other out-of-state foes include Lincoln High School, Brooklyn, New York, and Riverdale Baptist School, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas’ goal is to be prepared for the Non-Public B state playoffs, which are expanding to more teams this fall.
 
“I think it’s a tribute to our program and taking the next step as far as putting our kids on a platform that it’s not only gonna span the state of New Jersey, but also give our kids an opportunity to go out and play some of the best teams from other states,” Holman said.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas brings back senior quarterback Roman Blanks, who passed for 1,253 yards with 14 touchdowns as a junior, and senior running back/linebacker Chase Young, who rushed for 1,038 yards and 16 touchdowns last year. Other skill players to watch will be sophomore running back/linebacker Chukwuma Odoh, who already has a Division I scholarship offer from Syracuse University, as well as junior wide receiver/cornerback Josiah Zayas, junior wide receiver/safety Tyler Montgomery, junior wide receiver Anthony Perez and junior tight end/linebacker Anwar Witherspoon.
 
Holman believes that the offensive and defensive lines will be the “heart and soul” of the team. Senior right tackle/defensive tackle Elijah Thomas is getting scholarship offers, while Caden Sternlieb and Shannon Johnson are talented junior linemen.
 
“I think this team has worked harder than any team I’ve ever coached before as far as the offseason is concerned and the things that they’ve been doing,” Holman said. “They’re a close-knit group. We have a lot of guys that got experience last year and played in some really, really big games under a lot of pressure.”
 
St. Thomas Aquinas will be “multiple” on offense in terms of being able to pound the football and also spread players around and sling it through the air.
 
“That’s one of the things that our offensive coordinator, Chris Young, has done an extremely good job of doing is getting the ball to a lot of kids and getting them the ball in space, and being able to take advantage of some of the things that we do well and try to take advantage of other teams’ weaknesses as well,” Holman said.
 
Defensively, the Trojans utilize a 4-3 scheme up front and want to continue causing havoc after creating 13 interceptions and recovering five fumbles last season.
 
“Our defensive coordinator, Chris Oliveri, coming into his second year has done a tremendous job in preparing us to be ready no matter what,” Holman said. “We’ve done a really, really good job of making sure that we’re tackling and running to the ball and just creating a culture of playing really tough, hard-nosed defense.”