Hammonton High School will save money on monograms.
Earlier this month, the Hammonton Board of Education approved the hiring of Pat Lancetta as its head football coach.
Lancetta can reach into his closet for gear from his days as an assistant coach from 1989-to-2002 at the school under former Blue Devils’ coach Pete Lancetta, his brother. Pete is currently the head coach at St. Augustine after winning 215 games and four South Jersey championships at Hammonton from 1989 to 2014.
There’s no mistaking the two.
“Back then it was either Coach Pete or Coach Pat,” Lancetta said. “It is kind of weird, because now the kids do call me coach Lancetta. Now, going through the hallways, I hear Coach Lancetta, and obviously it’s me. I’m the only one there. It is pretty cool, though.”
Pat coached one year at Absegami before hiring on at Rowan University in 2004, where he served in various roles, including both offensive and defensive coordinator for the Profs. After the 2023 NCAA season, Pat Lancetta returned to Hammonton as a health and physical education teacher this school year.
Lancetta is looking forward to a different kind of challenge.
“In the college game, we were getting a kid after four years of high school,” Lancetta said. “They’re a bit more mature. Now in high school, you’re starting them in their freshman year. They are very impressionable and, especially in today’s society, with social media and everything, they have a lot of lot of distractions in their life. The biggest thing is to get them to focus for a few hours a day and get them off that.”
The Blue Devils finished 1-9 this fall under coach Jim Raso, with Pat Lancetta serving as offensive coordinator. After replacing Pete Lancetta, Raso compiled a 56-51 record, which includes three trips to sectional finals.
With decades of coaching experience, Lancetta will nonetheless be a head coach for the first time. He’ll also be on campus throughout the school year.
“That is huge because, heaven forbid something happens during school or a teacher needs to come see me,” Lancetta said. “I can handle it right away.
“The kids have been great. The one thing I tell them, you know, I want them to come say hello to me. We can talk about anything from basketball to hunting to golf, all that stuff, not just about football. I want them comfortable enough to just come up and let’s have a conversation.”
As a veteran coach, Lancetta is not just focusing on his players. He’s curating a varied and talented coaching staff. Without sounding like an old man shooing the kids off his lawn, Lancetta is embracing an old-school mentoring approach.
“Our staff is going to be a mix,” Lancetta said. “We’re going to bring in some new blood. We’ve gotten younger with the assistant coaches. It’s important to, you know, kind of guide the younger coaches so they can become head coaches someday. These days, guys don’t have to go through what we had to back in the day. We know that this is a process.”
Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes. Follow him on twitter @Rimbacksports. Email him with story ideas at tomrimback@gmail.com and, most importantly, support local journalism with a subscription to the Courier-Post.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: HS football: Another Lancetta set to take reins at Hammonton
