Farmingdale football coach Buddy Krumenacker says this will be his final year at helm for Dalers
Farmingdale head coach Buddy Krumenacker with his team prior to a Nassau Conference I football game against Port Washington on Sept. 20, 2024. Credit: Dawn McCormick
It’s time.
Buddy Krumenacker uttered those very words on Monday before taking the field for the first official practice of his final season as the head football coach at Farmingdale High School.
The legendary coach enters his 34th year at the helm of the Dalers and his 58th year as a football coach on Long Island.
“I am very satisfied with the work we put in and the results,” he told Newsday. “I followed a coaching icon and left this place in the same shape that I found it – and that’s something to be very proud of. There were expectations to keep it in line - keep the train on the tracks. And that’ll be the next guy’s goal. Farmingdale is a football town and that will continue. This day comes for everyone one way or another.”
Krumenacker, 78, expressed his love for a Farmingdale community that embraced him when his predecessor, the legendary Don Snyder, retired.
“This place is special in so many ways. The people are about work ethic," Krumenacker said. "The town is about pride and community and all that goes with that blue collar mentality. It’s a beautiful place to work and the players make it easy when they understand what we do here.”
Under Krumenacker’s guidance, the Dalers earned nine Nassau Conference I titles and played in nine Long Island Class I championship games, winning in 2001 and 2022. He has a 315-105-11 career record and 31 playoff appearances.
Krumenacker is the second winningest coach in Long Island history. Bethpage coach Howie Vogts had a 364-124-10 career record over 56 years.
His career started as a junior varsity coach in the Smithtown School District in 1969. He went on to coach the Hempstead Tigers for 11 years, winning five Nassau Conference I crowns.
“I have tons of respect for Coach Krumenacker and his football program,” Massapequa coach Kevin Shippos said. “They were all about class, and excellence and toughness. He’s been around forever and I’ll miss our rivalry and seeing him on the other sideline. He started coaching against my father and now me - it’s bittersweet as he moves on. He’s achieved so much in his career.”
Krumenacker will lead Farmingdale in the season opener at Oceanside under the Friday Night Lights at 6 p.m. Sept. 4.
"We’ve helped instill a work ethic that creates a better young man and a future good employee," Krumenacker said. "There’s no democratic process here. It’s a do as you are told philosophy and that’s it. It’s not for everybody, but it works. We get one more ride.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
