The Sayreville, New Jersey, board of education has moved to put its troubled 2014 high school football season behind it Tuesday night by naming a new head football coach to replace George Najjar, who last week was demoted to teaching phys ed classes at an elementary school.
Christopher Beagan, currently the head coach at Monroe New Jersey High School for the past nine years, will be paid a salary of $82,553 a year as a phys ed and health teacher, a stipend of $12,051 as coach, and a stipend of $5,573 as strength and conditioning coach.
Superintendent Dr. Richard Labbe said at the meeting Tuesday the board has found "the absolute best candidate" out of 45 candidates to lead the Sayreville Bombers next season.
Najjar lost his two decades-long job as head coach after a hazing and sexual assault scandal last fall abruptly ended the football season.
Seven students were arrested and faced juvenile charges for sexual acts against other players in the unsupervised locker room.
After Labbe announced earlier this year that he would allow the championship football program to resume next fall, he began an immediate search for a replacement for Najjar, who was first suspended before being reassigned to Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School.
