Dennis Conti Named Buena Football Coach

by Marc Narducci | Jul 17, 2020

Dennis Conti has always loved the football and has been a coach for many years so when he retired as a business owner last year, he was still hoping to stay involved in coaching.

He moved from North Jersey to Cape May and was an assistant coach at Lower Cape. May.

Now he has returned to the head coaching ranks. Conti was named the head football coach at Buena, replacing Jonathan Caputo, who resigned.

Caputo was 56-37 at Buena and guided one of the more solid programs in South Jersey.

He wasn’t that familiar with South Jersey football until serving as an assistant last year at Lower Cape May, which he said was an enjoyable experience.

“I loved coaching the kids at Lower Cape May,” he said. “They were a real hard-working group.”

Lower Cape May went 2-8 last season. Conti actually got an up close look at Buena, which beat the Tigers, 48-7 in a regular season game.

Buena was hit hard by graduation. Last year Buena went 8-3, earned a first-round playoff win before losing to eventual sectional champion Willingboro, 30-28, in a Central Jersey Group 2 semifinal.

Due to its success, Buena has stepped up considerably in competition.

Last year Buena was in the West Jersey Football League United Division, where the Chiefs finished second to Pleasantville. The champion Greyhounds were 5-0 in league play, while Buena was 4-1. The difference was Pleasantville’s 21-14 win over Buena.

Now Buena has been moved up to a more difficult division. The West Jersey Football League changes its divisions every two years. Teams that fared well are often moved up to a more challenging division and those that struggle are often dropped to a division that isn’t as difficult.

Buena will be in the WJFL Diamond Division which includes Paulsboro, Woodstown, two-time defending SJ Group 1 champion Penns Grove, Central Jersey Group 1 finalist Salem and Gateway.

That’s a really difficult division and couple with the fact that Buena might be rebuilding this season, indicates that Conti will face a challenge in his first season.

He understands he landscape but it still excited to be guiding his own team. Years ago he served as head coach at North Jersey’s Midland Park, which doesn’t have a football team anymore. Conti was head coach there four years.

Before going to Lower Cape May last season, he was an assistant coach at DePaul for the previous nine years. Conti was the head freshman coach for one of the state’s top programs.

Now 61 and not burdened with job requirements, Conti is raring to go. He is taking over at the most difficult of times due to the pandemic, but that won’t dampen his enthusiasm.

“I am excited about this opportunity,” he said.

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Conti understands that it will take time to get used to the players and vice versa, especially due COVID, but he is confident that he can put his stamp on the program.

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Author: Marc Narducci

Dennis Conti Named Buena Football Coach

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