Former Jets QB Foley eager to take over as coach at Valley Forge Military Academy

In the days leading up to the AFC Championship Game between the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts, former Jets quarterback Glenn Foley showed the same exuberance and self-assuredness that made him a prized commodity coming out of Boston College in 1994.

"I'm walking around here chanting J-E-T-S," Foley said at the time. "[Quarterback Mark] Sanchez is getting better and better. The key will be the defense, which is also getting stronger. The Jets have a shutdown cornerback and that makes them a threat. It will be close but I know the Jets will win."

Foley of course was wrong. The Colts beat the Jets, 30-17, after New York took an 11-point lead in the first half. Still, the Jets gave the Colts all they could handle.

The point isn't that Foley was right or wrong, but that football still excites him.

Foley, one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in South Jersey and one of the top (if not the top) athletes produced by Cherry Hill East High School, gained the national spotlight with a upset over Notre Dame in 1993. But five seasons of injuries caught up to him and eventually cost him his career in the NFL.

He's tried his hand at a few things since then, including a stint as a member of the old Sports Radio 950 morning team.

But last month, he went back to his real love, taking the head coaching job at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne.

The seeds of the move were planted over the summer as Foley runs the Glenn Foley Football camp for 9- to 17-year-old boys at Valley Forge. The focus of the camp is teaching proper technique, fundamentals, and repetition and motivation for quarterbacks and receivers.

"It took me a while to really understand what I wanted to do," Foley said after being hired on Jan. 13. "I was working with my brother Ed, who is now the recruiting director at Temple, at his camps at Penn. He asked me to come and talk to the kids and I found that I enjoyed working with kids teaching them football.

"I'm not stupid. I've learned a lot from some of the best coaches around. I've played for Bill Parcells. I've played for some great offensive minds and I learned from that. Now it's important to me to teach these kids what I've learned."

In Foley's estimation, he has found the perfect place to pursue his coaching career. Already comfortable with his surroundings from his experiences in the summer, he thinks the first-rate facilities will only foster a stronger base from which he can build his team.

"It's the best summer program I've ever been around," Foley said. "There are 120 acres dedicated to the student population with things that I never thought of doing. They have scuba, sailing, archery, karate and cooking classes. It's a full education each summer.

"These kids are getting a well-rounded education and I'm here to do my part. I'm excited about the possibilities that have presented themselves to me."

In terms of football, it's not as if Foley is rebuilding. Valley Forge went 9-1 a season ago and expectations remain high.

Foley, 39, said he is to up to the task.

"I've been through a lot," Foley said. "I'm ready for any challenge that presents itself."