THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
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sports&recreation SPORTS VIEW CONTACT JIM AT OGSMAR@AOL.COM
Mullins named new hoops coach at Harrison Bill Mullins had been away from the sport he loves, the game of basketball, for a few years, ever since he resigned after his second stint as the head coach at Kearny High School. And during that time, Mullins found out one thing — he truly missed the game. “I wanted to be a varsity head coach again,” said Mullins, who spent last season as a volunteer assistant to Bob Harbison at Nutley. “I didn’t know what was going to happen in the future, but I wanted to stay in the game of basketball.” Mullins, who doubles as the head boys’ volleyball coach at Kearny, said that once Noel Colon stepped down as the head basketball coach at Harrison, he definitely had interest. “Working with Bobby last year was a great experience,” Mullins said of his time with Harbison in Nutley. “It encouraged me to seek a head coaching position. I’m always thinking like a basketball coach, whether I’m refereeing or going to games. I knew that I was ready to get back into it.”
So the 60-year-old Mullins applied for the Harrison job, met with athletic director Kim McDonough Huaranga and the two agreed upon Mullins taking over the open position. “I wasn’t worried about being able to handle it,” Mullins said. “I know what it involves. I always had the enthusiasm. I was just waiting for the opportunity. If an opportunity like this came along, I knew that I would be more than interested.” Mullins said that his sons are a little older now, so there’s not a major drawback at home with his wife, Jacqueline. “I have more time now with the boys older,” Mullins said. “I think I took Kearny as far as the team could go. We played some really competitive teams in a tough conference. I just have more time now with my family situation. Harrison is very close to Kearny. There are a lot of wonderful people in Harrison and Kim has done a great job there. I look forward to being aboard.” see VIEW page
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Nutley’s Piro heads new Super Football Conference By Jim Hague Observer Sports Writer
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he start of the 2016-2017 scholastic sports season is now less than a month away, so that means Joe Piro is already busy at his desk at Nutley High School, making all the necessary preparations. But besides being an athletic director at one of the busiest high schools in northern New Jersey, offering all types of sports from football to crew, Piro has now taken on the duties as the first president of the new Super Football Conference, an alliance of 113 schools in the northern and western parts of the state, strictly for football only. “It’s a little busier than usual, but nothing I can’t handle,” said Piro, who was recently listed by NJ.com as one of the most influential people in New Jersey sports — including pro and college. “Fortunately, I have some great coaches working with me and a great staff. I’m not the only guy putting it together. I’m just the guy in front.” The Super Football Conference was devised last December in order to level the playing field in high school football in New Jersey, designed to give every single school a fighting chance to qualify for the NJSIAA playoffs, to give every school a relatively equal schedule and to separate the public schools from the private schools. It was believed that the private schools had a much better chance to compete because they could draw students from all over the place, while the public schools had to stay within the borders established by the respective school districts.
Photo by Jim Hague
Nutley athletic director Joe Piro holds the distinction of being the first commissioner of the new Super Football Conference, a duty that holds a high level of importance.
Piro was determined to be the organization’s face and voice. He coordinates league meetings and press gatherings. “Because of the nature of what we’re doing, I’m just leading the pack,” Piro said. “But I’m not doing it all.” Piro was quick to mention Dan Vivino of Westwood, who headed the scheduling aspect. “Once we got the divisions down, he was like a machine,” Piro said. Rich Hansen of St. Peter’s Prep is the league’s vicepresident, but Denis Nelson of River Dell was also very in-
strumental in the overall effort. “Denis was my right hand man,” Piro said of the River Dell AD. “We had others like Tony Karsich (St. Joseph Regional) and Jack McGovern (Bergen Catholic) who have their fingers on the pulse of what the parochial schools are doing. We have to be real careful, because we’re not just putting together what will be groundbreaking for New Jersey football, but we are setting a national trend. We have the biggest football conference in see PIRO next page