Former Columbia Coach Intent
On Finding New Opportunities

Gary Mobley knows how good it can be as both a player and as a coach.

After all, he was a key member of the immortal coach Lou Rettino’s playoff championship Union Farmers in 1985 before embarking on a successful college career for coach Bruce Arians as a starting cornerback at Temple University.

He was an immediate hit as the new head coach at Rahway in 2004 guiding the Indians to an 8-3 record and the first of four straight Central Jersey, Group 2 semifinal appearances before reaching a North 2, Group 3 final vs. Phillipsburg at Rutgers Stadium in 2008.

After 11 seasons and nine winning campaigns at the Union County school he took over the very challenging position as head football coach at Columbia High School and a bad omen surrounding his first season with the Cougars in 2016 was the fact that it was also the final season of the Maplewood-South Orange Packers junior football program.

Competing against Essex County schools such as West Orange, East Orange, Montclair and Livingston which have had strong junior football programs has left a school such as Columbia a step behind from the start in developing young high school players.

After nine seasons, and with just one winning campaign during that time which came in the covid-truncated 2020 campaign (4-3), the 56-year-old Mobley decided the time had come to step aside from his coaching duties and seek new opportunities.

One of the key factors in his decision to step aside came when the head football coaching position was posted after last season and he was asked to re-interview for the position, which he refused to do.

"I was, and I am offended by being asked to re-interview," Mobley said. “I still want to keep coaching, and I am looking for new opportunities as a head man.

"But, if that can’t happen, I would certainly consider an assistant’s role in the right situation for this year. I just looked at how things were going with the football program at Columbia and felt it was time to move on.

“In addition to not having a feeder program in town we have had four different athletic directors, four different principals and four different superintendents during my time there which has also led to some unfulfilled promises revolving around the high school football program.

“I love to coach football and enjoyed working with the kids at Columbia, but I just feel it’s time for me to start the next chapter in my continuing life journey with the sport.”

Columbia has since hired Hillside assistant Lys Ruben Blanc, a former Irvington and Kean University running back and defensive back, as its new head football coach.

He had been part of the Comets staff under head man Barris Grant which directed Hillside to a 2022 state sectional playoff title.

New Columbia Athletic Director Sjocquelyn Winstead and Blanc are hoping that a middle school football program can be initiated for the fall of 2026.

Columbia, which had five seasons under Mobley when it won just one game, including last fall’s 1-7 mark, has not had a banner season since a 9-1 campaign in 2010 under the late head coach and Athletic Director Dave Curtin.

Since that season 15 years ago there has been just the one season, that being the aforementioned and abbreviated covid year (2020) when the Cougars finished above .500; and other coaches such as John Power and the new Elizabeth head coach Eugene Kline also guided the program during that time.

“I wish them the best of luck,” said Mobley, who will remain in his physical education teaching position at Columbia. “I just felt that I had done my best and that I was ready to now move on to new challenges whatever they might wind up being.”

Mobley said that since stepping aside at Columbia he did interview for the head coaching job at his high school alma mater, but did not advance to the final rounds in that process. Union is expected to soon announce who its new head coach will be.