Marc Narducci: Camden grid coach Hanson quits

After what had been a relatively quiet off-season on the football coaching front, this week the resignations and hirings just keep on coming.

Tom Hanson, the head football coach at Camden, officially resigned yesterday. Last night, Craig Stinson was appointed the new head football coach at Highland, replacing Frank Plefka, who resigned after the season.

Earlier this week, Tim McAneney resigned after leading Holy Cross to the state Non-Public Group 2 title.

And in another move, Reggie Lawrence has resigned as head coach at Pennsauken to take the same job at Willingboro.

Whew.

There are different reasons for leaving jobs, and Hanson, who was head coach at Camden for four seasons after a long tenure as an assistant, was simply tired.

He would get to school early in the morning and not arrive home until 10 p.m. after conducting practice, watching films and sometimes having to take players home.

Few people had a greater passion for working with youngsters than the 51-year-old Hanson, who will remain a history teacher at the school.

"The team is in good shape for next year, and I loved working with the kids and the administration. But I just wanted to cut back," said Hanson, who guided Camden to the playoffs in his first two seasons.

Actually, Hanson resigned two weeks ago, but athletic director Al Dyer asked him to reconsider. That shows the high esteem in which he was held, but it didn't make Hanson change his mind.

As for Lawrence, he has won wherever he has coached, earning an 82-32 overall record at Camden, Jackson, and Pennsauken. The Pennsauken Indians went 6-4 and made the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs last season. Also included in his resume were consecutive South Jersey Group 4 titles in 2000 and 2001 at Jackson.

"Sometimes it's time to change in your life, and this situation came, and being good friends with coach Riley, it all worked out," Lawrence said.

He was referring to Willingboro athletic director David Riley, who served as Camden's offensive coordinator when Lawrence was a senior on the 1987 team.

The worst part of being an athletic director is having to let go of a coach. Lawrence replaced Nelson Hayspell, who, according to Riley, wasn't rehired.

Hayspell, one of the class individuals in South Jersey, won or shared division titles in each of his first four seasons. But the last two years, Willingboro was 3-17.

"Nelson Hayspell is a great person, but Reggie's credentials speak for themselves," Riley said.

Riley was also busy with other coaching announcements. He also has hired Martin Booker as his boys' track coach, Daryl Lloyd as the baseball coach and Lindsay McKeon as the girls' lacrosse coach.

Stinson says he is enthusiastic about taking over at Highland after being an assistant at the school the last two years. He also has been an assistant coach in Florida and Kentucky.

Stinson takes over a program that hasn't had a winning season since 1993, although there were two 5-5 records in that span.

He says he is looking forward to the challenge while still learning the landscape in South Jersey.

Most new coaches face challenges of different sorts. Usually the challenge is to keep a program on top or bring one back from the bottom. Either way, it's a difficult pressure-filled job that, as we have seen this week, is filled with plenty of turnover.