Fini Excited To Be The New Head Coach At Triton
New Triton head football coach and alum Steve Fini, who was an assistant there the previous five years, is candid when his players have asked about his football career playing with the Mustangs.
“When my players ask how I was I tell them I was small and slow,” said Fini, a 2005 graduate of Triton, who played running back, linebacker and was on special teams. “I wasn’t a very good athlete.”
But…
“It doesn’t matter who big you were or athletic you are to be able to coach,” Fini said.
As a player the undersized 5-foot-8 Fini competed with grit. He will coach the same way.
He replaced Dom Tomeo, who resigned after the season. The appointment was made in March but was just recently announced.
The Mustangs went 7-3 last year and were 5-1 in the West Jersey Football League Memorial Division, placing second behind Cherry Hill East. Triton qualified for the playoffs but lost in the first round to eventual state Group 3 champion Cedar Creek.
That was a good news season.
Now the not so good news.
Triton graduated 22 seniors from that squad.
“We have experience at key positions such as quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back so it’s not a total overhaul,” Fini said. “But you lose 22 seniors, that is a lot.”
During the past three seasons Fini, who teaches history and special education at Triton, was the Mustangs’ offensive coordinator.
He certainly paid his dues in coaching.
Following graduation from Arizona State, where he didn’t play football, Fini got his first coaching job as a volunteer at Highland under head coach Brian Leary, who will be starting his first year this upcoming season as the new head coach at Williamstown.
Leary is known for his offensive innovation and Fini said he learned a great deal during his five seasons at Highland.
“A lot of the stuff I run now comes from Brian,” Fini said. “He was somebody who was super open, willing to help out younger guys trying to get in the business.”
The fact that Fini has been on the Triton staff for five years will definitely help with his transition.
“I am very excited,” Fini said. “Coach Tomeo has done a great job in laying a foundation for me to take over and try to progress.”
He said working so closely with Tomeo was such a huge help for his coaching development.
“He and I worked together the last five years, and he always has been very open to me and my ideas, and I am trying to build on what we already created,” Fini said.
Earning his first head coaching job would also be special, but there is the added bonus of being appointed at his alma mater.
“I wouldn’t want to be a head coach anywhere else,” Fini said. “If you say pick a place you want to coach it is Triton.”
Steve Fini / Courtesy of Steve Fini
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Author: Marc Narducci
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