SHOREHAM – In another unexpected turn of events surrounding the highly decorated, legendary football coach who recently stepped down in retirement as the William Floyd boys’ varsity football coach.
Coach Paul Longo ended up interviewing at a few different districts for a new coaching position. He landed the plane and was brought before the board at Shoreham-Wading River (SWR) High School this past week. He was immediately approved as head coach and sported his new Wildcats hat.
While many unconfirmed rumors have been swirling around social media, as they often do, as to why he abruptly left his decades-old position at Floyd, the one thing we do know for certain is this: Shoreham has undoubtedly received a great coach, a person who loves the sport, cares about the players, and knows how to build a culture of winning. The old saying “the proof is in the pudding,” can be applied here – the pudding being his long list of undeniable accolades.
When asked about why he ultimately chose SWR, Coach Longo said, “There is history here and I believe that with hard work and starting to build from the ground up. We can build a winning football program here again.”
While Shoreham does have a history of winning several Long Island football championships in years past, the program has recently been down and fallen on hard times. So much so that they had no junior varsity football team this past fall. While the youth football leagues struggle simultaneously, Longo undoubtedly has his eyes set on changing that and doing it sooner than later.
While many Floyd fans, parents, and past players expressed their thankfulness for working tirelessly at building a great football program, many fans of the SWR Wildcats, staff, and players received their new coach with open arms, expressing their excitement in this huge change for their football program. Their hope is that this is the missing piece to return the Wildcats back to the glory days of winning and deep playoff runs, ultimately playing playoff football right through Thanksgiving at either Stony Brook or Hofstra.
Best of luck to Coach Longo and the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats!
