It had been almost two full years of unemployment for long-time football coach Chris Demarest, but the 44-year-old former Rutgers University assistant did not give up hope of landing another position.
“I had faith all the way,” Demarest said. “God put me on the earth for one thing. Coaching is a calling and I’m very passionate about it. I really thought I’d get another shot.”
But for some reason, there was a dark cloud that was following Demarest to every interview, after he was asked to resign his position as associate head coach at Rutgers after the 2007 season. And that dark cloud seemed to stem from an incident that took place in July of 2007, outside a bar in Long Branch.
On that night, Demarest got into a seemingly heated conversation with his long-time girlfriend. At one point, he allegedly grabbed her wrist. A female Long Branch police officer saw the incident and arrested Demarest, charging him with assault.
From that point on, Demarest’s life was totally altered. He was a rising star at Rutgers, working as head coach Greg Schiano’s right-hand man with the potential of becoming a Division I head coach someday. He spent four years in Piscataway, helping the Scarlet Knights reach unfathomable heights, winning 11 games in that 2007 season, with two wins over nationally ranked teams and at one point, moving to No. 8 in the national rankings.
Demarest was well-respected as the defensive backs coach and earned a reputation as a coach who got his players to overachieve. It seemed as if Demarest had a long and fruitful career ahead of him.
But there was that arrest – one that Demarest was certain was a mistake and one that he was certain would have gone away by now. His attorney, well respected Jersey City native John Azzarello (who was one of the attorneys representing the 9/11 Commission), worked out a deal where the charges against Demarest would be dismissed if he attended counseling sessions.
The Long Branch municipal court judge believed that Demarest had fulfilled his terms of the plea deal and the charges were dropped. End of story. Or one would be led to believe.
At the end of the Rutgers’ 2007 season, Schiano asked Demarest for his resignation.
When Demarest’s “resignation” was announced, Schiano said this to Tom Luicci of the Star-Ledger: “I’m not surprised because ‘Demo’ [Demarest’s nickname] and I go way back and we’ve talked about this whole thing at length and we agree, we both agree, that this is the best thing for Chris and for the program right now.”
To this day, Demarest doesn’t know what really happened.
“I honestly don’t know,” Demarest said. “I already had recruited five players to go to Rutgers for the next season. I don’t think the incident ever affected my position at Rutgers. I don’t know what happened and I never asked him for a reason. He felt he wanted to go in a different direction and he had the say as head coach. The decision lied with the head football coach and I moved on.”
So Demarest was out of the picture in Piscataway and out of a job. The perception was that Demarest was removed because of the incident in Long Branch. The Rutgers football program had endured its share of controversy and it’s safe to say that they didn’t want more by keeping Demarest around, even though the case was dismissed and the charges were dropped. Plus, Demarest still had – and has – a loving relationship with the girlfriend involved in the incident.
Demarest was ready to move on. He went on interview after interview with some of the best college football programs in the country. The University of South Florida was looking for a defensive backs coach. They didn’t pick Demarest.
“I must have sent out 50 resumes and went on 20 interviews,” Demarest said. “I don’t know what was going on. I was very active in pursuing another job. Pretty much, I felt like I had to plead my case that the case was dismissed. I wondered what I had to do to get another job. I looked in the mirror and saw the person that I am. I wasn’t what people were saying about me. Any time something like this happens and comes to the forefront, there’s bound to be speculation. It was a highly publicized case because of where I was coaching. I know people have their opinions. Some can believe me and others tend to believe things in a negative way.”
Apparently, that negativity kept Demarest away from the gridiron for almost two years.
At the same time, Hudson Catholic was going through a transition, looking for someone to replace Rob Stern as the football coach and athletic director.
When Stern was not rehired last month, the school’s president and principal, Rev. Warren Hall, announced that the school would hire a football coach and an athletic director separately, making them two different positions.
However, the search committee told Hall that he was making a mistake trying to separate the positions.
“They told me that I shouldn’t be so quick in my thinking,” Hall said. “They said that from their experience, you could have someone as both and it could work out. I took their advice and was at least open to the idea. I could be convinced otherwise if the right person came along.”
Demarest applied for the position and had an interview with Hall.
“Chris has the right approach in terms of student/athletes,” Hall said. “He has the right approach when it comes to academics. He wants to make kids more responsible academically. Chris had the experience in coaching in college and could tell a kid the right approach in terms of recruiting for college. With his background and experience, it made sense.”
However, how was Hall going to sell a Roman Catholic high school, one that was admitting girls as students for the very first time this September, that the new football coach and athletic director had a prior arrest for assault?
“To be honest, I didn’t know Chris before this process began,” Hall said. “He was very upfront and honest about his situation from the beginning. I asked him to please tell me what happened so I could understand. Of course, we did our due diligence and checked things out. Our feeling was that it was an isolated incident that was blown out of proportion. I don’t think it has offset his character and it doesn’t have to be a concern anymore, either with girls or boys. The Catholic faith is taught to give people a second chance. I’m extremely comfortable with Chris.”
With that, Demarest was hired last week as the school’s new football coach and athletic director. He was introduced to the returning football players and their parents last week, as well as some influential alumni.
“I could understand if some people had some concern, but I don’t,” Hall said. “We definitely looked into Chris’ background and there’s no discomfort whatsoever.”
Demarest is finally getting his second chance. The cloud has been lifted.
“I can’t put into words how thrilled I am to have this opportunity,” Demarest said. “This job is going to consume all of my energy and I’m going to work hard to make it successful.”
What about the skeptics and the doubters?
“The people who know who I am, I’m not worried about,” Demarest said. “The people who don’t know me are going to believe what they want. I know who I am and what I can do here.”
While Demarest has never been an athletic director before, he vows to take the experience he learned watching his father, Jay, who was a long-time coach and administrator for almost 50 years at several high schools in central New Jersey.
“I’ve watched my father operate since I was knee-high,” Demarest said. “I watched everything he did, how he handled things and organized things. I take a lot from him.”
Demarest knows that he’s inheriting a football program that was literally three inches away from a state championship last December. In their first-ever NJSIAA Non-Public Group 2 state title game, the Hawks lost a 7-0 heartbreaker to Holy Cross of Delran at Rutgers Stadium, a game that the Hawks very easily could have won.
“I’m not coming here to re-invent the wheel,” Demarest said. “I’m going to take a team that was successful last year and build my philosophy to that team. I know that the program is already established. I feel I’m fortunate to have the chance to coach this team. I believe in the vision that Father Hall has for Hudson Catholic and I will make sure to get assistants who have the same beliefs.”
Demarest said that he will rely on the assistance of former Hudson Catholic athletic director Terry Matthews, the school’s current dean of students, in the early going as athletic director.
“I know any transition is not easy,” Demarest said. “I’m going to need help. I can’t do it myself, especially with such a short time before football season begins. But I’m going to be a good representative of Hudson Catholic in every way. I’ll have an open door policy with the other coaches in terms of scheduling and other things. I think it’s a good fit.”
And it’s a second chance.
“I think we’re all better when we’re able to come back from adversity,” Demarest said.
“I think we’re going to be even better now with Chris,” Hall said. “People can see his passion and enthusiasm right away.”
Chris Demarest is certainly moving in the right direction, now that he once again has a foundation and a footing under him. The swirling cloud of controversy has officially been lifted and Chris Demarest couldn’t be happier for it.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.