Knighted: Rutgers tabs Jackson's Goodale as new coach

By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

New Jersey is one of the most talented wrestling states in the country. It’s the nation’s most populous state (we're talking density), but when it comes to wrestling, New Jersey wrestling fans are some of the most volatile, passionate, spirited and emotional.

It’s an environment Scott Goodale knows well … and he’ll get to know it even better as the Jackson Memorial High School coach was introduced as the new head wrestling coach at Rutgers on Tuesday afternoon.

Goodale takes over for John Sacchi, who announced his retirement after 17 years at the helm in New Brunswick.

Goodale becomes the seventh wrestling coach in the school’s history.

“I have a lot of passion for wrestling, especially here in New Jersey,” said Goodale. “It’s growing, its’ a great place to be, I’m just very happy to be a part of it.”

Goodale becomes the second New Jersey high school coach in three years to take the reigns at a Division I wrestling program.

In 2005, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., tabbed an alum, Jesse Castro, to take over its reinstated program. In its first season since 1992, the Flames won the East Region.

Castro previously coached at Kingsway Regional High School.

Goodale joins Castro, Steve Martin (Great Bridge/Old Dominion) and Kevin Dresser (Christiansburg/Virginia Tech) as high school coaches that have recently made the transition to Division I coaching.

Having coached at Jackson for over a decade, Goodale is aware of the model used by coaches that have moved on from the high school level on to major college wrestling.

They know the talent pool, up close and personal.

“Nobody knows those guys better than those that are competing against those guys day in and day out,” said Goodale. “When you’re in this sport and doing it at a high level, which at Jackson we’ve done, you’re coaching kids that are pretty much at that level.”

“Guys coming out of high school are ready to compete,” he said. “You’re still training the same way. I think in this case, it benefited me.”

Like Martin and Dresser, Goodale’s familiarity within his home state should have an immediate impact on keeping the Jersey talent home.

“I know all the Jersey kids; I know all the Jersey coaches,” said Goodale. “I have those tight roots. At Virginia Tech and Old Dominion, those two coaches came from great programs and in this case, it probably helped me (get the job).”

Goodale will have an immediate challenge, trying to make the Scarlet Knights wrestling program competitive again. Last season, the squad failed to qualify a wrestler for the NCAA Championships and according to Goodale, he’ll be working with 4.6 scholarships.

“That’s not going to change anytime soon,” said Goodale. “I’m optimistic things are going to change. I understood that (the scholarship situation), coming in. I’m going to have to do a good job at getting creative with the money.”

Optimism flowed throughout Goodale’s conference call with the media on Tuesday.

“It’s a challenge, that’s what drove me to this whole thing,” said Goodale. “It’s always been a goal of mine to get to that level. It’s a challenge, I know it can work and I know it can work here (at Rutgers).”

Goodale didn’t name specifics when it came to a coaching staff, other than he will have one full-time assistant, a part-time assistant and the opportunity to have a volunteer coach and a club coach.

“They didn’t put a cap on my help,” said Goodale. “If you get the right ones (coaches), that’s all you need.”

Goodale passed off any inferences that the program is in trouble, as the state has undergone a budget crunch in recent years that has seen Rutgers drop sports.

“If I thought for one second that this sport would be cut, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” he said.

The newly anointed coach didn’t want to look too far into the future, stressing there’s work to be done immediately.

“It starts with baby steps. We got to start getting more competitive in (the EIWA),” said Goodale. “We have to be able to compete, and compete hard. They’re all eastern schools we all recruit against and compete against.”

“We have to get those kids in there training,” he said. “Everyone’s talking about who we’re going to recruit. We have a team there now that can be pretty good and get better. That’s our goal right now is to get after it and compete right away in the EIWA conference.”

Goodale did struggle with the decision to leave his highly successful high school program.

“Leaving Jackson was really hard,” said Goodale. “It’s been my life for 12 years. Leaving that behind and I thought about the scholarships and will I be able to compete. I think we can do it and I want to do it. I just had to iron that out and make it the right decision.”

But as Goodale is set to meet his team for the first time, he acknowledges the similarities from the nation’s top prep programs and how they are trained and how it correlates to Division I success.

“The best programs right now at the high school level … they’re run like a college room,” he said. “These kids are so much better now than when I wrestled. These kids now coming out, they’re placing at nationals. I’m going to prepare this team the same way I did at Jackson.”

There’s reason for optimism. Depending on the poll, Jackson was ranked in the Top 10-15 the last two seasons. And as far as the talent pool in New Jersey, Goodale is a believer.

“I’ve always told people I think it’s a gold mine up here,” he said. “It’s a sport in this state that (winning) can happen quicker if you get the right kids. We have to do things right, not only on the mat, but in the classroom.”

InterMat Lead Writer
Jason Bryant